Supernatural Lovers: Finding His Soulmate
by MoxleyUnstable
Summary: Baron Corbin is the leader of a village searching for his one and only, his soulmate . One day, a woman named Maria Alexander walks into his village and everything changed
1. First Encounter

Baron Corbin walked through the snow towards his village in Moscow, Russia. He once again failed to find his soul mate and was beginning to lose help. Baron was desperate to find his soul mate because if he didn't, his life would come to an end. He, along with other Alpha males and the women in his village, aren't normal human beings. No, in fact, they were different from human beings that lived elsewhere. They were super natural beings, shapeshifters who are immortal with super natural powers. They live with half a soul and must find their other half somewhere in this world. If they do not find their soul mates in time, they would soon go mad and will ultimately perish. Baron couldn't let that happen to him because he is the leader of his village. He sighed in defeat as he grew closer and closer towards his village. A black bird with black feathers landed on his head, making him stop in his tracks and sigh in annoyance. The bird chirped happily and jumped on his head. "I'm not in the mood for this." The bird jumped down onto his shoulder and rubbed its head on his cheek. "I'm not in the mood, Graves." He flicked the bird off his shoulder and watched its body begin to shift and contort into a man. The smaller, heavily tattooed man, Corey Graves, stood in front of him, pouting. "Easy there, Grumpy. I was just messing with you. You know, trying to cheer you up. You look a little sad." Baron grumbled as he walked towards the village. Corey sighed as he walked next to him. He was Baron's closest friend in the entire village and knew when his friend was sad. "So no luck on finding your soul mate, huh? Don't worry. I'm sure she's around here somewhere. Just don't give up." "That's easy for you to say. You have yours. It didn't take you long to find Kelly." Corey rolled his eyes in annoyance. "It doesn't mean it will take long for you to find yours. Have some faith, man." Baron nodded as they headed towards their favorite bar and walked inside. They sat at a private booth and ordered some beer and food. "Maybe you're right. She might be looking for me too. I mean, there's only one person for everyone so hopefully either I find her first or she find me." "That's the spirit. I'll help you too. Maybe we can just walk together, into large crowds or something, and hopefully someone will brighten the light in your eyes. Then you can stop being Mr. Grumpy on me." Baron frowned. "I'm not grumpy. I'm just ready to stop this search and take what's mine." The two sat chatted idly until Corey spotted a wolf walking around inside. He whistled at it and waved when the wolf picked its head up and looked at him. The wolf walked towards them and stopped in its tracks as its body contorted into the form of a short, medium build woman with dark brown hair. She smiled as she sat next to Corey and kissed him on the cheek. "I knew I would find you two together." Baron chuckled as he kissed Kelly's hand. "Yeah. Grumpy here needed some cheering up." "No luck again, huh?" Baron looked down and shook his head. "Don't worry, Baron. We can help you search if you want." He chuckled and nodded as they chatted. "Maybe with the extra help, I'll find my soul mate quicker." Corey smirked and looked at Baron. "I hope you don't get with someone who has a big ego like you." Baron furrowed his brows. "I don't have a big ego." Kelly chuckled and scratched the back of her head. "Yeah. Actually you do." "Not you too. What makes you think I had a big ego?" Corey and Kelly looked at each other before speaking. "Well, it's either your way or no way." "Yeah and you're hard headed," Kelly said. "That's called being a leader." They laughed as Baron glared at them. "Whatever. You two have to listen to me anyway so it doesn't matter." Baron sipped on his beer as his eyes traveled around the room, searching for the light of his life. Kelly noticed and leaned over towards Corey. "He can't even relax without searching." "Well he is the leader of the village. What would we do if we lose him?" Kelly shrugged and looked around. There were a lot of couples at the bar and on the dance floor, dancing and having fun. Baron looked down at his empty glass and ordered another glass. A cute blonde walked over to their booth and smiled seductively at him. "Hey, handsome. Want to dance?" Corey and Kelly both glared at the blonde. "Summer, shouldn't you be somewhere else, harassing someone other than our leader?" She rolled her eyes as she sat next to Baron and touched his arm. "So would you care to dance? Maybe I can cheer you up." Baron shook her off and glared at her. "You have a lot of nerve speaking to me that way. I suggest you leave now or else." Summer pouted and got up and left as they watched her.

"Wow. She is a mess." Baron groaned and rubbed his temples. "She's a pain in the ass. That's what she is," Kelly spat. Baron put his head down on the table and relaxed his shoulders. Corey stared at his best friend with a look of concern on his face. "You're going to worry yourself sick if you continue like this." Baron lifted his head and stared at his long time friend. "Yeah you're right. Let's just relax and have some fun tonight." Kelly and Corey nodded as they ordered another round of drinks. They raised their glasses and laughed as the liquor kept coming and Baron got more relaxed. Corey smiled as he watched the tension slowly leave Baron's body. He always worried that he would burn himself out but was glad to finally see him relax.

XXX

I walked slowly to the village, not knowing where I was going. Iwas traveling and was searching for a place to stay and rest up. I was relieved when I saw a village in the distance. Pulling my scarf up over my mouth and hugged my purse close to me as the harsh winter wind began to pick up. I continued to wander aimlessly until I finally reached a village and smiled.I looked around at the different tall and short buildings as I made my way through the village. A guy walking around eyed me curiously and stopped me. "Hey there. I have never seen you around here before. Are you a traveler?" I smiled and nodded at the short blonde haired man. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Chris Jericho." "I'm Maria Alexander. I'm a lost traveller actually. I was staying somewhere else and my stuff was stolen so I just sort of left and started walking and ended up here. I'm looking for somewhere to rest up for awhile." Chris nodded and smiled. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm glad that I found you then. I can help you. First you have to talk to the leader of our village and he will fix you up with everything you need." "A village leader? I don't want to be a burden on anyone." "Don't worry. That's just how he is. He's always helping up everyone that cross his path. Follow me. Knowing him, he's at the bar." I followed close behind Chris as they walked towards the bar, nervousness filling me as we walked inside.

Chris looked around the large room as we walked inside. "I'm sure he's around here somewhere," he said to me, "but to be on the safe side, hold on to my hand so we don't get separated." I nodded and held his hand as we continued the search. Chris and I made our way through the crowd as Chris looked around for this leader. Chris let out a whistle and caught someone's attention. He turned around to look at me and pointed over his shoulder. "That's our leader right there, Baron Corbin, the big, muscular guy with the long black hair with the tattoos." I looked over Chris's shoulder and made eye contact with Baron.

Baron stared at me as lights and colors shined around him. "It's her," he mumbled under his breath. Corey and Kelly turned around and looked at the black haired woman that was standing next to Chris as she made her way towards their booth. "Wait. She's your soul mate? Are you sure?" "I can feel it deep down. It's her...But there's one problem." "What's that?" "She's a human." Corey and Kelly's eyes went wide as they looked back at the medium sized, somewhat muscular, raven haired woman as she made her way towards their booth. Corey turned to Baron. "Are you sure that's your soul mate? I mean she looks good but I have never heard of our people being in love with a human...Ow!" Kelly pinched his cheek hard. Corey pulled back and rubbed his cheek. "What was that for?" Kelly glared at him. "The only girl you should say that looks good is me." Baron ignored their bickering as he watched the woman come closer and closer until she was standing right in front of him.

Chris popped out from behind her, smiling. "Hey, boss man. This is Maria Alexander. She was traveling and found our village. She was staying at another place, but her stuff was stolen so she left and wound up here. She was looking for a place to rest and I told her that you can help." I smiled at him and extended my hand. "Hey. I told Chris I didn't want to bother you with all of this but he insisted." Baron held my hand and kissed the back of it. A shiver went up and down my spine as I tried to keep a smile on my face. "Don't worry about it. It's my job to help any and everyone that comes here. I'm Baron Corbin. Have a seat." Baron moved over to make room as I sat next to him. Baron pointed towards Corey and Kelly, who were still bickering. "These two are Kelly and Corey Graves. I'm sure they'll speak when they're done with their lovers' quarrel." I laughed as Baron cleared his throat, trying to get their attention. Corey rolled his eyes and looked at me. "Oh hey. I'm Corey Graves and this is...," "I've already introduced you. If you were listening instead of arguing, you would have heard what I was saying," Baron shook his head. Corey blushed as Kelly laughed and extended her hand out to me. "Well then. No need for me to say who I am then. Nice to meet you." I shook her hand and shook hands with an embarrassed Corey. Baron raised his hand and a waiter walked up with a menu in his hand. "Our guest here needs food and something to drink." The waiter nodded and handed me the menu. I looked at the menu and looked at Baron. "I don't have much..." I looked through my purse to fish out my wallet. Baron held up his hand to stop me from talking. "No worries. You're our guest. Order whatever you want. It's on the house." My eyes went wide. "Thank you. I'll pay you back I promise." Baron smiled, "No need. Just make sure you take care of yourself while you're here. Just think of everyone here as your friend." I ordered my food and drink and looked around the room. "Wow. I have never been to a place like this before. Everything looks so extravagant," I said and Baron nodded as he leaned back, admiring the room. "Yeah. We're a proud village and try to keep everything neat around here." The waiter returned and set my plate and drink in front of me. I licked my lips and immediately dug in. Baron, Corey, and Kelly stared in shock as I scarfed down my food. Corey leaned into Kelly and whispered, "Are we sure she's human?" Kelly glared at him then looked over at Baron who was staring at me like I was treasure. "At least he's finally happy," Kelly whispered, pointing at Baron." Corey looked at Baron and smiled. "True but we still don't know if this is even possible. I mean, this is unheard of. I think we need to do some research on this, to protect him." Kelly nodded in agreement as they sipped on their drinks. I leaned back and sighed. "Wow, that was so good. I haven't had food that good in a long time. Thank you so much," I said, smiling at Baron and he returned my smile. "No problem. Now Chris said you needed a place to stay?" I nodded as I sipped on my beer. "Yeah. He could've just told me where the hotel was. He didn't have to bother you with my troubles." Baron laughed and looked at me. "Like he said, I help out everyone so it's no bother to me. It would've bothered me if he didn't find you. The village is pretty big and you could have easily gotten lost." Baron turned to Corey. "Do we have any rooms available for our guest?" Corey folded his arms and started thinking. "No, I don't think we do. Some families flew in earlier this week and I think all of the rooms are taken." I sighed and dropped my shoulders in defeat. "Great. Just my luck. I can't catch a break to save my life." Baron looked at me. "Hmm well I can't on good conscience have you out in this cold. You can stay with me at my place. I have plenty of room." Corey and Kelly both looked at him and spoke in unison, "What?" Baron glared at them, causing them to shrink back. "I don't want to trouble you. I couldn't possibly do that," I said, shaking my head. Baron laughed and shook his head. "Relax. My place is huge so I have plenty of rooms for anyone in need. It's no trouble at all." I smiled at Baron. "Well thank you so much. I really appreciate everything." Baron nodded and looked up to see Summer making her way back to their booth. He glared at her as she sat next to me and flipped her hair. "Hi. I'm Summer. I haven't seen you around before. What's your name?" I smiled and looked at her. "I'm Maria Alexander. I'm just traveling and decided to stay in town." Summer nodded then motioned between me and Baron. "How do you know him then? Trying to get cozy with him? You're not as cute as me." Baron stared daggers into her as she glared at me. "What? No, I was just told to speak to him," I struggled to answer. "Yeah right. I'm sure that you're just using that as an excuse," she snapped. Baron balled up his fists and Corey immediately grabbed his hand. "Don't make a scene. Calm down," he whispered. Baron took a deep breath then sighed. "Summer, I suggest you leave. Now." Summer looked over at Baron, hurt in her eyes. "But..." "You heard the man. Leave," Kelly glared at her. Summer scoffed and stood up, leaving the table. "Thank you," I said, blushing slightly. "No problem. We always look out for others," Kelly said, smiling. I sighed and relaxed. "Well I'm just glad to be away from her. I'm too exhausted to deal with women like that." Baron looked over to me. "Well why don't we call it a night and I get you set up for the night? I rather leave now before you get harassed again." I smiled and nodded. Baron turned to his two friends as they got up. "I'll see you two in the morning." I waved as Baron and I walked off.

Kelly and Corey watched them as they walked off before looking at each other. "You think he's gonna take her tonight?" Kelly asked as she looked back at them before they exited. "No. At least I hope not. He wouldn't do that. Hopefully." Kelly sighed, running her fingers through her hair, "but you know how you Alpha can be sometimes." Corey rolled his eyes. "I wasn't that controlling." Kelly raised an eyebrow. "I stayed in bed the entire next day." Corey thought for a moment then chuckled. "Oh yeah. Now I remember. Wanna remake that night?" Kelly smirked and looked at him. "No. We have work to do tomorrow." Corey groaned and nuzzled up to her. "Fine," he pouted as they left the bar to return home for the night.

Baron and I walked side by side as they made their way to his house. I looked at him and admired how handsome he looked in the moonlight. His long black hair flowing over his shoulders, his chiseled jawline and his muscular build was a sight to see. He must've felt me staring holes into him because he suddenly looked at me. I blushed and quickly looked away, pretending to look at the different buildings. Baron smiled as we walked. "I should mention that my house is pretty private so you won't have to worry about Summer coming to attack you." I chuckled and looked at him. "I sure hope not. The chick is crazy." He laughed as we walked up to his gate. He fished out a card and swiped it in the electronic card reader. The gate beeped and opened up. "Which reminds me," he looked at me, "you're not afraid of animals are you?" I looked at him for a moment, raising an eyebrow. "No. Why?" He scratched the back of his head. "I have some...pets guarding the house. They roam around the house and go from room to room." I stared at him for a second, unsure of what he meant. "Um okay. So what do you have? Big dogs or something?" Baron laughed as he locked the gate behind us. "Sure. Let's go with that." I stared at him nervously as we walked towards the house. "Wow..." I stared astonished at the huge house in front of us. "Your house is gigantic." He chuckled as he grabbed the key and unlocked the door. He flipped on the lights and looked around. He whistled and the sounds of nails scrapping the floor filled the room as six huge wolves came running up to him. My eyes went wide as the wolves charged full speed. "What the hell," I yelped and hid behind him as he held his hand out and the wolves came to a stop. "Don't worry. They only bite if you try to hurt me." He bent down and petted the wolves one at a time. I watched, amazed at the sight in front of me. One of the wolves got up and circled me, sniffing and eyeing me cautiously. I kept my eyes focused on the wolf until Baron called out to it. "No guys. She's good. Don't attack her." The wolves, seemingly understanding him, walked away and laid down. I breathed heavily as Baron chuckled. "Don't worry. They won't hurt you. Come on. Let me show you to a room. You must be tired from your travels." I nodded and followed him upstairs. We walked passed numerous doors before reaching a room. He unlocked the door and flipped on the lights. "Here you go. The bathroom's over there. Fresh towels are in there as well. There's some clothes in the closet if you need some, men and women's of all sizes. If you need anything, my room is three doors down." I smiled at Baron. "Thanks for everything. I'll try not to be a pain." He smiled. "Don't worry about it. Good night." Baron closed the door behind him and I heard his footsteps get further and further. I stretched my aching muscles, tossing my purse on the large bed and took a peek into the closet and looked through the clothes. "Not my style, but free clothes are free clothes," I sighed and grabbed a tank top and sweatpants before walking to the bathroom to take a nice hot shower.

Baron sighed as he got changed for bed. He could hear the shower running and couldn't fight the urge to take a peek. He took a deep breath and focused as his body contorted into the form of a lizard. He crawled underneath the door frame and made his way into Maria's room. He slipped under the door frame and crawled up onto the ceiling above the shower. He looked down and stared at her naked body. He studied every inch of her perfect, curvy body. She had a tattoo of a dragon that covered her back and skulls on both of her arms that started at her shoulders down to her elbows with what looked like bloody barbed wires around the skulls. He licked his lips slowly as her hand traveled over her body, rubbing soap all over. Baron blushed as he watched over his soul mate. Maria sighed as she rubbed her perfectly shaped breast. Baron watched and drunk in the sight of his lover washing soap off in the shower. He shook his head as he focused on her hand movements as they massaged her delicate body. He wished he could take her right then and there, but he couldn't do it in fear of scaring her away. He fought back hard the urge to just drop down and tank her out of the shower and carry her into the bedroom and taking what was his. He wanted to wait to tell her everything, to tell her the truth. For now, he just wanted Maria safe and close to him all the time. He was not about to let her go. She hummed to herself and cleaned herself up before stepping out the tub and dried off. Baron watched as she stretched, her hair swaying as she moved. She got dressed and walked out of the bathroom. Baron followed her and watched as she got in bed and immediately fell asleep. Baron dropped down onto the floor, changing back into his real form. He walked up to her and softly caressed her cheek. She looked peaceful as she slept and it filled Baron's cold heart with joy. He walked out of the room and whistled. Two wolves appeared and looked at him. He bent down and petted them before whispering. "Watch after her." The wolves licked him as they entered the room and laid down next to the bed. Baron returned to his room and soon fell asleep, images of his soul mate filling his mind.


	2. Secret Meeting

I stirred softly in my sleep as I rolled over onto my side, my hand landing on something soft and furry. I rubbed the patch of fur slowly, trying to figure out if it was real. "Huh...," I slowly opened my eyes and saw what appeared to be a wolf. I shook my head vigorously, trying to clear my tired mind, and looked again. The wolf stared back at me as my eyes went wide and my body started to shake. I was silently screaming in my head as I slowly removed my hand from the wolf's head. I shot up and turned around but froze in place when I saw another wolf staring at me from the floor. "What the fuck?!" I shouted as I stared at the wolves, not knowing what to do. There was a knock at the door, but I was too scared to answer. Baron opened the door and peeked inside. "Good morning, Maria. What do you want for breakfast?" I looked up at him with fear in my eyes. He looked at his two wolves. "Could you two leave? I'm trying to ask our guest what she wants for breakfast." The two wolves got up and stretched before walking out of the room. He looked back at me, while I finally calmed down, and spoke, "So...breakfast?" I took a deep breath and looked at him. "I'll eat anything you have." He nodded and exited the room as I laid back down, trying to calm my racing heartbeat. I put the pillow over my face and groaned loudly into it. I sat up and got dressed, throwing on some jeans and a pink shirt, then fixed my hair before heading to breakfast. I heard numerous voices as I drew closer and closer towards the kitchen, the scent of cooked bacon filling the air. I walked inside to see Kelly and Corey sitting at the table with Baron as a servant cooked breakfast. Kelly and Corey looked up at me and smiled, motioning me over towards the table and spoke in unison, "Morning, Maria." I sat next to Baron and looked at them. "Good morning. What are you two doing over here so early?" "Freeloading. They're always over here when it's time to eat. I'm starting to wonder if they even own any food at their place," Baron answered, raising an eyebrow. Kelly laughed as Corey shrugged. "Hey. Why cook when you can get a nice meal over here," Corey said. "Yeah, especially when he's the one cooking. I want to be able to taste my food or have food that's not burnt," Kelly teased. "Hey! At least I attempt to cook," Corey said. I laughed as the couple went back and forth over Corey's cooking habits. Baron shook his head as the servant placed their plates in front of them. "Here's your breakfast, ma'am. I hope you enjoy it," the servant said unto me. "Thanks. What's your name?" "I'm Jaime Noble, ma'am. Pleasure to meet you," Jaime answered with a smile. Baron tapped Jaime on his shoulder, "Drop the formality. Just because you work here doesn't mean you have to be so formal, you know. Sit down and eat with us." Jaime smiled and fixed himself a plate and sat at the table with us as we began to eat. "So where you from, Maria," Jaime asked as he chewed on a piece of bacon. I sipped on my juice before replying, "Dallas, Texas. Born and raised." "Awesome. I'm from Hanover, West Virginia," Jaime said, smiling brightly. I looked at the food in front of me and immediately picked up my spoon and began eating. Baron looked at me with loving eyes as I devoured my food. In less than five minutes, I sat back and sighed, my plate now empty. Jaime stared at me with wide eyes. "How the hell does someone eat all of that, that fast?" Baron, Corey, and Kelly burst out laughing as Jaime stared dumbfounded at me. "That has to be some kind of record." I smiled at Jaime, "That was delicious. You're an awesome cook." "Thanks, but I have never seen anyone eat so fast in my entire life, especially a woman. How did you do that?" Jaime stared at me. "Leave her alone, Jaime. That might be her talent," Kelly said after finally stop laughing. "I don't know, to be honest. I have always eaten like that since I was a kid. Maybe I get it from my dad," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Well that is some talent you got there. That was amazing," Jaime said as he finished his plate. He got up and cleared the table as we sat around and chatted. "So what do you guys do around here? Baron, you're like the leader or mayor of this village, right?" I asked, sipping on my juice. Baron nodded, "Yeah, I watch over everything and everyone around here. I try to protect everyone that comes into this village and treat everyone as family. Corey's my side kick and Kelly help me keep him in line and she also helps me keep everything in order." Kelly snickered as Corey pouted. "Why am I the side kick?" "Because you're always by my side and sometimes need a kick in the butt," Baron teased causing Kelly to laugh even more. "Shut up. At least I will always have your back unlike SOMEONE," Corey stared daggers into Kelly who shrugged and rubbed Corey's arm. "Calm down, baby. You're the best...helper in the village." "Damn right I am. Speaking of which, Baron, the elders are coming over today to help with the um...situation," Corey said, looking over at me then back at Baron, who nodded quietly. "Fine. In the mean time," he said, looking at me then at Kelly, "Why don't you two govaround and do some sightseeing? Maybe take her shopping." I shook my head. "No, that's okay. I don't want to bother anyone." Baron rolled his eyes and smirked. "Stop worrying about bothering people. Kelly loves to go shopping and sightseeing." I smiled, "So this is just to keep me from going insane about my lost luggage?" Baron nodded with a smile."It'll be fun. We can find some clothes that you may actually like," Kelly giggled. "True, but I don't have any money left." "Don't worry about it. It's taken care of. Kelly know what to do. And I don't want to hear anything about you paying me back." I opened my mouth to respond but Kelly quickly put her hand on my shoulder. "Don't argue with him. We'll never leave this place. Come on." I nodded and followed Kelly towards the front door, pulling on our coats as we walked outside and got into her car.

Corey reached under the table and pulled out two old books. "I found these last night and apparently there is a way to change a human, but you will need the elders to help. It's a pretty long process and requires alot of energy and the elders can help which is why I set up a meeting." "Thanks, man." Baron smiled as Corey slid a book his way. "No problem. I'm just glad to finally see you happy. Now let's get to reading." They sat in silence as they read their books. "Hmm..." he flipped through the pages, scanning the words and studying the pictures. Jaime placed a cup of coffee in front of both men and sat across from Corey. "So you finally found the one huh," Jaime said, sipping his own cup of coffee, "I could tell by the way you looked at her." Baron nodded as he took a sip of his coffee as Jaime continued to speak. "Well, boss, I'm happy for you. It's about time that you found someone. Now you can finally be happy." Baron smirked, "This coming from a guy who won't ask his better half to marry him. You should marry her. Sarah is a lovely girl." Jaime smiled and looked down. "Yeah I know. It's just I can't muster up the courage to ask her." Baron sighed. "I told you, Corey, Kelly, and myself could help you with that. Sarah like surprises so let's just surprise her." "Yeah. You helped me and Kelly. Allow me to help you," Corey said, looking up from his book. Jaime shrugged his shoulders and looked at them. "Maybe I should do that. It's been long enough. I don't want to keep her waiting forever." There was a knock at the door and Jaime stood up to go answer it. He walked towards the front door and opened it. "Good morning. Baron and Corey are in the kitchen." Jaime stepped aside as Mark William Calaway and Steve Borden walked inside and headed towards the kitchen. "Would you like a cup of coffee?" Mark turned towards Jaime and nodded. Baron and Corey stood up as Mark and Steve entered the room and gave them firm handshakes. "Thanks for coming. Please sit down." They sat at the table as Jaime set down their cups of coffee and left the room. Mark sipped his coffee and looked at Baron and Corey. "Corey told us that you found your soul mate. Is that true?" Baron nodded. "Yes sir. Well Chris found her and brought her into the bar where I was at." Steve looked firmly at Baron, "And she's a human?" "That's correct." Steve and Mark looked at each other. "That hasn't happened to anyone in centuries, but I have witnessed something like this before." Mark cleared his throat, "I've also witnessed this once before so we will be able to help you and your soul mate through the transition. Does this person know anything about our people?" Baron looked down and shook his head. "No. I wanted to ask you how do I explain this to her. She was already freaked out about the wolves. I don't know how she's going to understand what we really are. I just don't want to lose her. Corey even found me this book about changing humans into hybrids." Steve leaned back and looked up at the ceiling before speaking. "Hmm. Well we can help you with that too if you want. How do you plan to go about asking this person to stay?" Baron scratched his head. "Umm persuasion?" Mark and Steve laughed as Baron stared at them. "What? Killing them with kindness? That's what you taught me." Mark held up his hands, "True, but make sure you don't let this one get away. Last thing we need is for Corey to take over as leader of this village." Steve nodded in agreement as they stood up and got ready to leave. Corey frowned as he folded his arms. Baron walked them towards the front door. Steve and Mark turned around and looked at him. "Just let us know when you need us. Keep reading that book. It should help." Mark looked around, "Speaking of which, where is your soul mate?" "Oh. She's out with Kelly, shopping and touring the village." Mark and Steve looked at each other. "What?" Roman asked looking at the elder men. "Do you think that was a wise decision?" Steve asked. "Yeah. She needs some clothes and I thought she should do some sightseeing." Mark spoke up, "We get that, but this is Kelly we're talking about, the same woman who always buys out stores and take people around the entire village and not stop for food." Baron eyes grew wide as he dashed out the house. Mark shook his head as Steve laughed. "The boy's hopelessly in love." "Yeah. I just hope this goes over well." "I'm sure it will. We can't have Corey as the leader of this village, that's for damn sure."


	3. The Mark

Kelly and I chatted as she drove us to a clothing store in town. I couldn't take my eyes off the buildings that we passed as she told me what building was what and where the best place to shop and great places to eat were located. "So you were travelling from place to place and managed to get stuck here," she asked. "Yeah. I was staying in a town near by and left my room to sightsee and when I returned my stuff was gone. Luckily, I had my purse, phone, and tablet with me, but most of my money was in my suitcase with my clothes and that was stolen," I sighed as I remember what happened, "so I decided to go for a walk and I guess I lost track of where I was going and got lost until Chris found me." She nodded her head as she parked the car in front of a tall white building. "Well, it's a good thing he did. Nights here can get cold. Now let's find you some better clothes and maybe sneak me some into your pile so Baron won't notice." We laughed as we got out of the car and walked inside. A bubbly blonde smiled at us as we walked in. "Hey, Kelly," she said, stepping from behind the counter and walked up to Kelly, hugging her before looking at me, "hey. Haven't seen you around. Who are you?" I flashed a smile, "Hi. I'm Maria Alexander. Nice to meet you ." She nodded her head and shook my hand. "She's a traveller. Long story short, her stuff were stolen and she needs some clothes. All on Baron's tab, of course," Kelly said. "Well, first off, my name is Carmella. Nice to meet you. Secondly, I will gladly help you find anything you need. Just get the most expensive clothes you see." I giggled and shook my head. "No. I can't do that. He's already letting me stay at his house. I can't overstep my boundaries." Carmella's eyes widened as she looked at me. "You're staying with Baron? The man who doesn't let too many people near him? That Baron?" I raised an eyebrow. "Why is that so shocking? He's a nice guy, I think. Doesn't talk much, but still." Kelly and Carmella exchanged looks before Carmella grabbed my hand. "Well anyways, let's make you look fabulous. I know he means we'll with keeping closets full of clothes, but he has bad fashion sense," she giggled as she opened a dressing room and pushed me inside. "I'm going to start passing you a bunch of stuff so you tell me what you like." I gave a nod as she shut the door and waited for her to pass me clothes.

Carmella walked over to Kelly. "So she's his other half," she whispered and Kelly nodded. "She's still in one piece so he hasn't done anything to her so that's good. Usually, Alphas take their mates right then and there." "Yeah, which is weird. Maybe he's holding back because she's human," Kelly whispered as they started picking out clothes, "Either way, I'm going to protect them both. Well, her more than him. Corey is protecting him. They're trying to figure out what to do." "Wow. Well, I like her already. She seems like a sweetheart. Completely opposite of Baron. Hmm are we sure that she's the one," Carmella said. "Well, you and Colin seemed like completely opposites, but you two ended up like this perfect couple," Kelly said as she and Carmella walked to the dressing room. "Yeah that's true. Well, I wish Baron all of the luck in the world then," Carmella said.

"Alright, girl. Here you go," Carmella yelled as she passed me a bunch of clothes. "This is a little much don't you think," I laughed nervously. "Nope. Since Baron is paying, go nuts. This is the best store around here. I know what I want so I'll leave you two for awhile," Kelly said and walked off. I shut the door and dropped the large pile of clothes on the little chair and dug through them. "Ooh," I said, picking up a long sleeve black shirt with red sparkles on the front. I removed my shirt and put it on, looking at myself in the mirror. The shirt hugged my torso perfectly, showing off my breast nicely. I looked through the clothes again and picked out a pair of white skinny jeans and put them on. "Now this is more like it," I said to Carmella as I looked at myself in the mirror. "Let me see," she said and I opened the door and stepped out. "Wow," she said as I turned around, "absolutely fabulous, girl. You have great taste." I shrugged as I looked at the clothes. "I just prefer comfortable clothes. Nothing too fancy but nothing too simple. I'm not going to try on every little thing that you picked out because I love all of it," I said, "I think I'll take all of them. Um is it okay if I wear these out?" She nodded and gathered up the clothes and she walked me over to the counter. She grabbed a pair of scissors and removed the tags off of the clothes that I had on before working on the clothes that she laid out on the counter. "So how long do you plan on staying here," she asked as I browsed. "I don't know honestly. I was just traveling and studying different places for fun and well since I don't have any of my stuff, I might be here a while. I need to find a job while I'm here so I can pay Baron back," I said as Kelly walked in with a few dresses. "He said that you didn't have to," she said as she set the dresses down. "I know, but I will feel bad if I don't." "Well," Carmella said as she bagged up my clothes, "you can work here. I could always use the help since my husband is no help at all." I smiled brightly at her. "Really? I did used to work at a store in the mall back in Texas so I have experience and I'm really great with management and technology so I can help with that if you need me to." She nodded her head as she reached under the register and pulled out an application and a pen. "Just a formality although I already have you hired in my mind. But more importantly," she said, looking me over, "how do you feel about modeling? I would love to use you to show off some of the clothes here. Only if you're comfortable doing it." I blushed and pushed my hair back. "Do you think I have what it takes to be one?" She and Kelly both nodded. "I run a website for the store and want to be different from the usual skinny no tattoos, blonde or brunette models. I want different women. Plus there's not many pale skin, black haired, tattooed women models. So what do you say?" I nodded my head as I filled out the application and handed it back to her. "Now all I will need to do is get a name tag made for you and get you a shirt and you will be good to go. Oh! Do you have a cellphone? We can exchange numbers and talk and text whenever," she said, putting the application under the register. I gave her my number and she put it in her phone. "Got it. I'll let you know when you can start. In the mean time, how about we look at some boots for you? The ones you have on are nice, but again, the weather around here is totally different." I nodded as we walked over to the shoe section and browsed the boots. "Ooh. I like these," I said, grabbing black boots with fur on the inside and outside. While we were checking out the boots, the bell at the door rung and Carmella turned around. "Welcome. Oh hey, Baron." I turned around and looked at Baron as he made his way towards where I was. "Hey, Car. Just came to check on our guest." He stopped and looked at me, checking out the new clothes. "Umm...you look great," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thank you," I said, smiling up at him then held up the boots, "what do you think of these boots?" He looked at me then the boots. "They would look great on you. Goes with the outfit." I nodded and looked at Carmella. "I'll take these too then." Carmella nodded and took the boots from me. "You didn't have to check up on me, you know. Kelly and I are having fun together," I said as Baron, Kelly, and I walked to the counter. "I know, but someone needs to check up on Ms Shopaholic over here," Baron smirked. "Oh whatever. I only bought a few things and grabbed a bunch of things for her. Anyways, where is my husband? Pissed you off so bad that you killed him," Kelly chuckled. "No. He's at the house for some reason. Probably waiting for Jaime to make lunch," Baron sighed as Carmella bagged up everything. "Sounds like something Corey would do," she giggled, "oh before I forget. I'm stealing your guest and my new best friend. I hired her to work here while she's here." Baron turned to me, eyebrow raised. "You're going to work here? Really?" I nodded at him. "Yeah. I can't just sit on my butt at your place all day while I'm here. I'll go crazy," I said as I reached for my bags, but he quickly grabbed them. I looked over at Kelly who shook her head as she grabbed her bag. "I have a study filled with books if you get bored," he said. "Not everyone wants to spend all day reading, Baron. Let the girl work with Carmella. She will be fine," Kelly said, "she needs to get out and enjoy the village around here and see people." "Speaking of which," Carmella said, walking from behind the counter and hopped into Baron's back, "there's a party tonight. Hope all of you come out and have some fun." Baron patted her head and nodded. "Sure. Not like we have anything planned anyways." Carmella hopped off of him and hugged him. "Good. Hope to see you guys tonight." We waved goodbye as we left the store and returned to Baron's house to get ready for the party later that day.

That evening, I was in my room standing in front of a mirror as I brushed my hair. I was wearing the white jeans that I bought and a dark red long sleeved shirt. I hummed to myself as I put on my black choker with a heart hanging from the front of it. I put down my brush and put my phone in my pocket as I grabbed my new black leather coat and walked out of my room and walked to the living room where Baron was waiting. He was dressed in a black long sleeved shirt and dark jeans. I smiled at him as I stood in front of him, pushing my hair back. "Wow," he mumbled under his breath. "What," I said, feeling self conscious suddenly. He stared at me for a long time until Jaime snuck up behind him, pulling him from his thoughts. "Hey, boss...I mean Baron. You okay?" Baron nodded, pointing towards me. "I think she's trying to out do me with the leather jacket. Anyway, you ready to go?" Jaime nodded as they looked at me as I blushed, looking at my leather jacket then at his. He smirked as he grabbed his jacket and put it on. "Mine look better," I teased as I put on my jacket and smiled at Jaime as he opened the door. "Either way, you both look great so let's go."

We hopped into Baron's Escalade with Jaime behind the wheel. We drove towards a large building. Cars were parked all around the building and people were coming and going. Jaime pulled into a reserved parking spot and they got out and walked towards the entrance. "Jaime!", a high pitched, red haired woman ran out and hugged Jaime. "Hey baby. I missed you." "I missed you too. Glad you came. Hey, Baron." "Hey, Sarah. You're looking beautiful as always. This is Maria Alexander. She's visiting with us." "Hi, Maria." I smiled at her. "Hey, Sarah. Nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you too. Baron, there's a reserved table for you. Your two friends are already inside and they have been knocking back the liquor." Baron sighed and shook his head. "Thanks for the warning. Come on, Maria. You're in for a show."

I followed closely behind Baron as we walked through the crowd, looking for Corey and Kelly. I felt someone grab my arm and turned around and saw Summer. "Well hello missy. We meet again." I tried to shake her loose but she tightened her grip. "Can you please let me go?" Summer pouted. "But why? Let's hang out and chat for a while." "No thanks." I turned around and saw that Baron was no where in sight. "Let's go get something to drink and just chat," Summer started pulling me towards the bar. "Let go of my fucking arm." I frowned and shook her off. "I don't want to hang out with you so leave me alone, Summer." Summer stared wide eyed at me and scoffed. "I just wanted to apologize for earlier. That's all." I knew that she was lying because the way she was acting was completely fake. "I don't give a damn. You can apologize without touching me," I snapped. Summer's face grew red with anger as she stared daggers into me. "Listen here. You may be a guest here, but that doesn't give you the right to treat me this way. Now how about you...?" Carmella came up behind Summer and grabbed her by the arm and slapped her across the face. "How about you leave her the fuck alone before I beat your ass?" Summer rubbed her cheek and walked away. Carmella turned to me. "Are you okay?" "Yeah. Thanks. That chick is crazy." "Yeah. She won't bother you as long as I'm around." "Thanks. Listen, I got separated from Baron and I can't find him. I heard he has his own table. Do you know where it is?" Carmella nodded and took my hand as we made our way through the crowd. We spotted Baron and quickly made our way towards him. "I think you left someone." Baron sighed and hugged Carmella. "Thanks, Car. Maria, I'm so sorry. I was so busy trying to make sure these two weren't getting into trouble, I left you behind. What happened though? I thought you were close behind me." "It's not your fault. That Summer chick tried to make me have a drink with her, claiming that she wanted to apologize. Carmella took care of her though." Carmella smiled and shrugged. "It was nothing. I never liked her anyway. I'm glad I had an excuse to hit her." "Feisty as always." Baron high fived Carmella and laughed. I sat down and sighed as Corey put an arm around my shoulders. "Hey buddy. We were waiting for you...," Corey smiled, seemingly drunk out of his mind. "Corey, back off. She's been through enough already after dealing with Summer. She needs a drink." Baron chuckled and sat next to me. Carmella got swept off her feet by a big guy and kissed him. "Hey baby. I was just about to go look for you." Baron looked over and smiled. "Hey Cass. What's up?" Cass set Carmella down and shook Baron's hand. "Hey, Baron. Just being the life of the party as always with Enzo, who's um somewhere. Who's this?" I looked at him and smiled. "Hey. I'm Maria Alexander. I'm just visiting for awhile." Cass shook my hand and smiled. "I'm Colin Cassady but people call me Big Cass. My partner in crime, Enzo Amore, is around here somewhere," he said, looking around the room, "Oh there he is. Zo, over here." The guy named Enzo walked over and waved to everyone. "What's up?" I smiled and waved back. Baron leaned in and whispered to me, "These two are always the life of a party. It's never a dull moment around these clowns." Enzo kissed my hand before the trio joined us at the table. A waiter brought different bottles of liquor and shot glasses to the table. Baron poured everyone a shot and proposed a toast. "To a great night of drinking and Summer slapping. Hate that I missed that." We laughed and downed our one of many shots to come.

Shots after shot, everyone relaxed and chatted. I was laughing and having a fun time chatting with Carmella and Kelly. Enzo and Corey were having weird arguments while they were drunk out of their minds and no one bothered to stop them. "This is the best night I have ever had," I smiled and looked at Baron. "Good. I'm glad you're having fun. Just relax. We're all your friends here." "I'm glad I got to meet you all. I don't think I ever want to leave." Baron smiled for the first time since I've been here and downed another shot. He was so glad to hear that from me. He wanted his soul mate to stay with him forever, but was afraid that his soul mate would reject him once she found out what they really were. He shook his head and continued to drink with everyone.

The night went on without anymore incidents and soon everyone started to leave. I was leaning against Baron heavily as we made our way to his vehicle. I was completely drunk and was happily mumbling as Jaime got in the driver seat and we left. Jaime dropped them off at Baron's home as he left and went home to Maria. Baron helped me into the house and helped me to my room. "Tonight was a fun night, Barry." I was completely drunk and Baron was laughing and answering back. "Yeah. Tonight was a great night. Let's get you into bed." Baron opened up the bedroom and helped me to the bed. I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head against his chest. "You're so warm and comfy." He smiled and petted my head. "Maria, you need to get some rest. You're gonna have a terrible hangover in the morning." I stood up and looked at him. "You're right. I'm going to bed...," I smiled and stood up on my toes, leaned in and kissed him on the lips, catching him by surprise. He stared at me as I kissed him. He didn't know how to react so kissed me back. I pulled him down onto me as the kiss grew deeper. His mind started to grow cloudy and he tried to break the kiss. I tightened my grip and Baron felt his energy draining. Soon, he heard soft snoring and saw that I passed out. He breathed heavily and wiped his lips. He looked down at me and stared at my neck. He licked his lips and bared his fangs as he buried his teeth into my neck. I whimpered softly but soon relaxed. Baron licked the wound and saw his mark that he placed onto my neck. Now everyone know that I was his and no one should touch me. He tucked me into bed and kissed my cheek before leaving the room. He leaned against the door and sighed heavily, rubbing his lips, remember my soft lips pressed against his. "Please don't let me lose her. Please...," he whispered as he walked back to his room and went to bed.


	4. Hard Truth

Baron tossed and turned in bed as the images of Maria kissing him replayed into his mind. He licked his lips, tasting her in his mouth. He remembered marking her, binding them together, and tasting her sweet blood on his tongue. He jerked up and breathed heavily. He looked down at his hard, untouched dick and sighed. He pulled the sheet back and gripped his aching member. He closed his eyes as the events from last night replayed in his mind. He remembered her soft lips pressed against his. He sighed as he stroked his member. He remembered her naked body in the shower as he felt his member throb in his hand. Sweat covered his forehead as he stroked himself. He wanted her so badly but right now, he had to wait. He groaned softly as thick ropes of cum landed on his chest. He sighed and tried to relax as his orgasm rolled over him...

I groaned softly and pulled the covers over my head, avoiding the rays of the sun. My body felt heavy and I couldn't figure out why. Last night was a complete blur after shot number five. I don't even remember returning home or changing clothes. I shot up immediately, blushing at the thought of Baron removing my clothes and saw something that he shouldn't. "I need a shower," I sighed and pulled the covers off of me and was about to get out of bed until I noticed the wolves at the end of the bed, looking up at me. "Umm, hi," I said nervously. One stood up and jumped into the bed. I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. "You won't hurt me...right?" I slowly held my hand out towards it, shaking slightly. The wolf moved its head and I rested my hand on top of it. "Okay. So far so good," I sighed as I slowly pet it. It wagged its tail and laid down, resting its head on my leg. "Wow. You're really nice," I giggled as the other wolf jumped into the bed and laid next to the other wolf, resting its head on my other knee. "Thank you for staying with me last night. And for being so nice," I said as I pet them both. This was my first experience touching a wolf and I couldn't be happier. "As much as I would love to pet you all day, I need to shower and change." The wolves stood up and hopped off of the bed before walking out. "Wow. They're so smart." I got out of bed and closed the door before walking to the closet and grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom. I stripped down and took a nice hot shower, my body relaxing and my muscles loosened. I felt very refreshed as I got out of the shower and walked over to the mirror. I wiped off the mirror and looked at myself, my eyes going down to my neck as I saw a strange mark. It looked like claw marks with a circle around it."Huh?" I stared at it before rubbing it. "Where did this come from?" I dried off and checked my neck again, making sure I wasn't seeing things. The mark was still there and I didn't know what to do. "What the hell happened last night?" I mulled over the events that happened last night and my face immediately turned red. "I...I kissed Baron." I put my fingers on my lips as I remembered pulling Baron down as we kissed but that's the last thing I could remember. "Ugh...what am I going to do? Ugh what did I do? Maybe if I pretend that I don't remember, he'll forget about it," I mumbled as I walked out of the bathroom and got dressed.

I walked out of my room and walked into the kitchen and saw Jaime making breakfast. "Good morning, Jaime." "Good morning, Maria. Had fun last night?" I smirked as I sat at the table. "Yeah. I must have had a lot to drink because I don't remember most of the night." Jaime laughed as he placed a glass of juice in front of me. "Yeah. You was feeling real good last night. Baron had to carry you out." I scratched the back of my neck. "Sorry about that. I was having too much fun. I woke up with this weird mark on my neck too." Jaime looked at the mark and frowned slightly before turning around and smirked. "Maybe you should slow up on drinking. I'm surprise you don't have a hang over." I looked at Jaime. "Yeah you're right. Strange, isn't it? Usually, I'd be in bed, not wanting to get up." Jaime nodded silently and pulled out his phone and texted someone. Baron walked into the kitchen and sat at the table across from me. "Morning, Jaime, Maria." Jaime glared at Baron before responding. "Morning, Baron. Sleep good last night?" Baron knew what that look meant and ignored it. "Yeah. I slept great. Had fun with Sarah?" Jaime smirked and put a glass of juice in front of Baron. "I'm not telling." Baron laughed as the front door opened and closed as Corey and Kelly walked in. "You know, there's this weird thing known as knocking. I think it may catch on if we tell people about it," Baron said. Corey chuckled as they walked into the kitchen and sat down. "You know it's us so why do we have to knock? Besides, it's not like we're gonna walk in on you naked or anything. Not that we would care anyway." Baron rolled his eyes as Jaime set the table and gave everyone their plates. Corey looked over at me and looked at the mark on my neck. He elbowed Kelly and motioned her to look at me. Kelly smirked and shook her head. Corey stared daggers into Baron as we ate breakfast. Baron looked at Corey with the "Don't give me that look" eyes. Corey rolled his eyes and left the table. Baron stood up and followed Corey into the living room. "What's with them," I asked, watching the two men walk out of the kitchen. "Men being men," Kelly sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "Yeah, but it felt strange in here. Some weird air around then. Not to mention, they kept looking at me strangely," I said. Kelly and Jaime shared a look as they looked back at me. "You're probably just imagining things. You did drink a lot last night. How do you not have a hangover?" I shrugged as I looked at the door. "Something is going on. I can feel it. Did I do something wrong? Am I over staying my welcome?" "No," Kelly and Jaime both said. "Then what's going on then?" Neither of them answered me which made me frustrated. I stood up from my seat. "I'll find out myself then." I turned on my heels and headed towards the door. "Maria, wait!"

Corey stood in front of Baron and crossed his arms across his chest. "What the hell did you do?" Baron scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. I just...I was caught up in the kiss and..." "Woah wait. You kissed her? She was clearly drunk last night." Baron looked at him, running his fingers through his hair. "No. She kissed me and I couldn't control myself anymore and I just..." "Made her yours? Dude, she still thinks we're just normal humans like her. How do you think she's going to react when she finds out that we're not humans? That we're actually a village of supernatural beings who are bound to one person for all of eternity? Or the fact that she's the other half of your soul? That you have bind her to you? Or that without her, you could lose your sanity and possibly your life?" Baron stared silently at his friend. Everything that he was saying was true, but he just didn't want to overwhelm his soul mate with the truth. He was still trying to make her comfortable around them before hitting her with the truth.

Just then, I walked into the room. "Wait. You're not human?" Baron and Corey turned towards me as I stared at them. "Umm..." Corey tried to come up with anything but Baron stopped him. "Yeah that's right. None of us are humans." My eyes went wide as I stared at them, confused. "But you all look like humans..." Baron sat down in a chair and rubbed his temples. "True, but we are supernatural beings with special abilities that humans do not have and we are immortal. Well only when we find our soulmate." I walked over and slowly sat down on the couch and listened. "Everyone in the village is destined to be with one person and they have to find that one person to become immortal. That one person, that soulmate, carries half of their soul." "What happens if they can't find that person?" Baron went silent and looked down. Kelly stepped in and answered. "They go insane and the madness and loneliness will ultimately destroy them. Baron is our leader and has been struggling with life, trying to find his own soulmate. That is, until you came." I looked at each of them. "Me?" "Yes. Apparently, you're Baron's soulmate. Which is weird since you're human but it isn't unheard of." I went silent and looked down. "So all this time, you all knew this and that was the only reason you were so nice to me? And what about this mark on my neck? Did you put this on me?" Baron nodded, not making eye contact. I looked down at my lap as I balled up my fists. "So everyone was just being nice to me because I can save your life?" Kelly stepped forward. "That's not true. We're all your friends. We would've have been nice to you, no matter what." I stood up and grabbed my coat, heading for the door. Baron stood up and looked at me. "Maria wait..." "Fuck you." I slammed the door behind me and left. Baron felt something inside him break and dropped to the floor.


	5. Please Save Him

Baron sunk to the floor as the door slammed shut after his soul mate stormed out. The world around him seemed to disappear and his vision became blurry. His heart threatened to stop beating as he took deep breaths. He stared at the door, wishing it would open again. The room began to spin and his head began to pound. He groaned loud and put his head down. "Baron. Hey, Baron. Can you hear me?" Corey called out to his fallen friend but he didn't respond. "This can't be good." Corey helped Baron to his feet and helped him to the couch. He stared at the floor in silence, his vision still blurry. He tasted something metallic in his mouth and rubbed his lips to see blood on his fingers. "This doesn't look right," Baron said jokingly. "Do you want me to call someone to check on you? Maybe the elders can help." Corey stared at his fallen brother with worry and fear in his eyes. Baron could tell by Corey's voice that he was really worried and didn't bother to fight him as he nodded in silence. "Call Mark and Steve. Mark's wife, Michelle, can help me." Kelly nodded and went into the kitchen and called the elders. Jaime came out with a cool towel and a bucket and wiped the sweat off of Baron's face. He sighed and closed his eyes. "You're going to be okay, man. Just wait. We will figure something out." Baron smirked and laid down on the couch. "What if she doesn't come back? Could this really be the end of me? Will this be my last? I'm not ready for this..."

XXX

I walked around in the cold, thoughts running through my mind. I wiped the tears from my cheeks, not paying attention to where I was going until I bumped into someone in front of me. "Oh I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." The person I bumped into was Carmella, who turned and playfully pouted. "Hey. What are you trying to do? Run me over?" I scratched the back of my head and chuckled. "My bad. I wasn't paying attention." I averted my gaze. She walked up to me and made me look her in the face. "Hey, what's wrong? You look troubled. Want to talk about it? Maybe I can help." I looked at her smiling face. As of right now, she's the only one I'm willing to trust. She has been nice to me from the start. Maybe she could help me make sense of all of this. "Yeah. I have a lot on my mind. Do you have time to talk? I could really use your help and advice." She smiled and nodded. "I always have time for my friends. You can always count on me to help, no matter what." We walked to a small coffee shop and went inside. We sat at a booth away from others so we could talk in private and ordered something to drink."So what's up?" I took a deep breath and began explaining what just happened at Baron's home. Carmella listened in silence until I was done. "I see. I thought you knew already which is why I never brought it up. Yes, we are all supernatural immortals with special abilities and have one soul mate. We have to find our soul mate or we could perish." My eyes went wide when I heard "perish". "But I just don't understand why he didn't say so from the beginning." Carmella set her cup back on the table. "Finding your soul mate is scary. I know when Cass and I first met, he was scared to talk to me, not to mention tell me I was his other half. I was the rebellious type and loved to play around and joke all the time. I didn't take him serious when he first told me. I actually dumped him once, but we got back together. It was difficult to get use to but it worked out for the better. We're happy now and I couldn't ask for anyone better." I looked down at my cup of coffee. "Wow. Couldn't tell that you two had problems. You look great together." Carmella stared at me. "Maria...is it possible that you're more afraid to fall in love than the whole human/nonhuman situation?" I sighed and looked at her.

XXX

Steve, Mark, and Michelle entered Baron's home. Corey guided them towards Baron, who was laying on the couch. Michelle immediately went to his side and placed her hand on his forehead. "What happened?" Corey and Kelly looked down in silence for a moment before Corey finally spoke up. "Baron and I were talking about Maria and I told him that he should tell her who and what we are and she sort of overheard us and he told her everything and she stormed out and Baron collapsed." Michelle looked at Baron and looked back at the others. "I think all of the pressure and emotions built up inside and when Maria walked out, it took all of his strength. He's been under so much stress, worrying about the village and finding a soul mate finally took a toll on him. We need to find her. Maybe seeing her will make Baron feel better." Corey took a deep breath and looked at his fallen brother. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I opened my big mouth and..." Baron raised his hand, signaling Corey to stop talking. "Don't blame yourself. I'm fine." He groaned and tried to sit up before collapsing back down. Michelle put her hand on his shoulder and made him lay back down. "Stay down. It's no one's fault that you're in this state. No one knew this was going to happen. We just need to figure out what to do now. Maybe if we find Maria, she can make you feel better." Baron smirked. "I doubt she will come back. She probably hates me by now. I just have to accept my fate." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Baron...Baron...," Michelle called out to him but he didn't respond.

XXX

"Yeah...I've been hurt before and blinded by love that...I'm afraid, Car. I'm afraid of being hurt again. I don't want to go through that pain anymore. Not to mention, there is no way Baron and I would work. We're from two totally different worlds. I mean I have to go back home. I can't stay here and end up in this relationship that might not last." Carmella grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "Listen, I've known Baron for years. He would never hurt anyone...well unless he's pissed off or one of his friends gets hurt. He puts others over himself all the time. He would rather see others happy than himself. I mean you saw it. He's kind to everyone and helps everyone in need. He's a good guy. As far as the rest, well, I can't think for you. Just follow your heart and emotions. I didn't think Cass and I would work and look at us. We're happily married and in love." I smirked and looked at her. "Yeah. Then why would a guy like that want a chick like me? He deserve someone who's not a screw up. He deserves someone special. I'm a nobody." Carmella stared at me. "You're not a nobody to us. You're special. Even though we haven't known each other long, you're like a sister to me. You're nice, thoughtful, considerate, funny, and sweet. Not to mention that you have some pretty cool tattoos, just like him. You're fun to be around and you put up with me and Corey. Not everyone can deal with us, especially when we're together. Don't be so hard on yourself. You need to talk to Baron. Work this all out and see where this leads you. Plus I saw the way you looked at him. You were crushing on him anyway, weren't you?" I blushed and looked away as Carmella giggled. "I knew it. Come on. You two look cute together. I haven't seen Baron so happy until you came around...although it's hard to read a guy like him. He is completely different from a lot of guys around here. He's so serious all of the time and he stays strong for everyone that it's just amazing, although he is pretty lonely despite how many wolves he keeps around that large house of his. Which reminds me since you maybe be interested. In our world, there are Alpha males around and Baron is the ultimate Alpha male. He can be a little aggressive, but he won't hurt you. Alphas tend to be more protective of their soul mates, but from what I've heard, the sex is incredible." I blushed and immediately changed the subject. "Um...Really? Everyone was telling me that he was down a lot before I came. Was he really that miserable?" She giggled and nodded. "Yeah. He hid it but I knew. That's my specialty. I know when someone's happy, sad, mad, etc." I smiled at her. "Speaking of specialty, so everyone has powers here? Like what?" "Hm pretty much. We all have different specialties and powers. Everyone can shape shift and track people down." "Shape shift?" She stood up. "Yep. See? Watch." She closed her eyes and concentrated. The air around her thickened and her bones cracked and her body began to change. I stared at her with amazement and admiration as she changed into a cat and jumped on the table. "Wow." I reached out and petted her. "That is so cool." She meowed and hopped off the table, changing back into her true form. "Please tell me I can get powers too." She scratched her head. "Hm. Now that I think about it, I don't know how this work with you being a human. Maybe the elders know." "Elders?" "Yeah. The oldest of our species, Mark and Steve. They are also the wisest so maybe they know how this will work...Wait are you saying you want to make it work with Baron?" I smiled and shrugged. "Maybe. After talking to you, I feel a lot better. I feel like I understand everything now and I think I want to make this work with Baron. I think I'll go talk to him and apologize." We stood up and walked outside. She gave me a big hug. "Good luck." I smiled at her. "Thanks, Car...for everything." "No problem. Oh and I will have your shirt and tag at the store so they will be waiting for you when you're ready." I nodded before we parted ways as I made my way back to Baron's home, not knowing what lies ahead.

With new found confidence, I headed back to Baron's house. Talking with Carmella really helped me with all of my emotions. I finally realized that I want to try to make this work with Baron. I approached Baron's home with uneasiness. My heart was pounding in my chest as I got closer to the door. I took a deep breath and reached for the door knob. Then the door swung open as Corey crashed into me and quickly caught me to keep me from falling. "Owww!" I rubbed my forehead as I looked at Corey who was also rubbing his forehead. "What's the hurry, Corey?"

Corey stared at me with wide eyes. "I was just about to go look for you. You need to come inside." I walked inside and immediately saw Baron laid out on the couch. "What's going on?" I looked around as everyone stared at me silence. A tall male with black hair walked up to me and stared at me before speaking. "I'm Mark Calaway. That's my wife, Michelle. And this is Steve Borden. Steve and I are the village elders. Baron, here, is in pretty bad shape." I looked down at Baron's unconscious body. "Is it because of me? Did I cause this?" Michelle immediately shook her head. "No, honey, you did nothing wrong. Baron is and has been under a lot of stress that he's kept to himself. He always bottled up emotions and it just got the best of him." I walked up to Baron and sat on the floor next to him. I grabbed his large, cold hand and rubbed it against my cheek. Michelle put her hand on my shoulder. "I'm going to make sure he's okay. Don't worry. He's a fighter so he won't give up so easily." I looked at her with wide eyes. "Give up? What are you saying? He could die?" Steve stepped in. "No that's not what she's saying. Right now, Baron is...well let's just say he's in a battle with his mind. Right now, he's trying to hang on to the hope that he's been holding onto all of this time." I looked into his face and back at Steve. "Is there anything we can do? Anything I can do? Please. I want to help. I want to be useful." Steve looked at me. "Right now, there's nothing we can do expect wait and hope for a change." I looked down and nodded. "We should move Baron to his room where he will be more comfortable." Jaime helped Corey carry Baron to his room and put him to bed.

Michelle put up an IV drip and took Baron's temperature. "His temperature is dropping. Hopefully being under these bed sheets will warm him up."I pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down. Steve and Mark motioned Jaime and Corey to step out of the room to chat and think of a plan. "So what are we going to do," Corey asked looking at the elders. Steve rubbed his temples and sighed in frustration. "We wait. Hopefully with Maria next to him, he can feel her presence and come back, but with her being human, he may not be able to sense her near him." "Baron branded her already. He should be able to sense her." Mark looked at Corey. "Baron branded her? So he bind Maira to him already. That could explain her sense of wanting to bring him back. Steve do you think...," Mark turned to Steve. "Hmm it is possible." "What's possible," Kelly asked as she walked up to everyone and looked between the two elder men. "Maria could bring back Baron. When Baron bit her, Maria's blood mixed with Baron's saliva, meaning his DNA is mixed with her DNA. Basically, her DNA is running through him and his DNA is running through her. It's possible she can somehow bring himout of this coma like state that he's in." "So do we tell her," Corey peeked inside the room to see Maria holding Baron's hand. "That's where it gets complicated. She's not fully one of us so this might not go well if we push it. I say we wait and see what happens." Corey walked back inside the room and put his hand on my shoulder. "Come on, Maria. Let's go get something to eat." I shook my head. "No. I want to stay here." Corey sighed. "You heard them. We just have to wait and see. Come on. Let's go." "I'm not leaving." Michelle put her hand on my shoulder. "I'll stay with him for a while. Go with Corey," she said. I sighed and let go of Baron's hand and walked out with Corey. We walked to the kitchen where everyone else was at and sat at the table. Jaime was finishing cooking tacos and was getting plates ready. I sat down next to Mark and stared at the floor. Steve and Mark looked at me with concern. Jaime placed plates in front of everyone and placed a bowl of salad in the middle of the table. I stared at the plate that was in front of me. I didn't feel like eating which was strange for me since I love to eat. I didn't want to be here. I wanted to be next to Baron. Everyone looked at me, concern on their face. Finally, Mark spoke up. "Maria, listen. We were talking and we think there's a way you can help Baron." My eyes lit up as I looked up at Mark. "Really? I can help? I will do anything. I just want him to get better. I want him to come back to me...us." Mark smiled before looking at Steve. "We think you can bring him back. By now, you know the truth about us and how important you are to Baron, right?" I nodded. "Well, what you might not remember is that Baron branded you." I rubbed the mark on my neck. "Yeah. Basically your DNA and his DNA are mixed and each of your DNA are running through you. So that explains your sense of urgency for Baron to return. You might be able to help him, but...," Mark trailed off and looked down. "But what? Tell me." Steve spoke up. "With you being just human, it might be too dangerous for you to try to bring Baron back in your current state." My shoulders dropped in defeat. "So I can't help after all?" "No, you can." I looked at Steve, confused. "How?" Steve went silent after that. I looked at everyone. "How can I help? What do I have to do? I will do anything." Mark looked at me with a serious expression on his face. "We will have to change you into one of us. It will be a painful and long process as your body changes. You will feel every painful thing that happens to your body and your heart may stop and start from time to time. You could possible die from this." I went silent and seemed lost in thought. After some time, I looked at Mark with a serious look. "I'll do it."


	6. His Savior: The Ultimate Sacrifice

Mark and Steve looked at meand could tell that I was being serious. Corey put his hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure about this? I mean we could find a better way. Maybe Baron will get better on his own. You don't have to risk your life." I looked down and balled up my fists. "I want to do this. I want to help him, even if it means putting my life on the line. He's worth it to me." Corey put his hand down and sighed, giving up on arguing. "Well, after lunch, we will begin," Mark looked over at Corey and Kelly, "and I want you two there to help." Kelly nodded as Corey looked down. He was worried for my safety, but knew there was no use in fighting me. I made up my mind. I wanted Baron back and I wanted him back now. I wanted to give us a try. I wanted to see what life has in store for us.

After lunch, the guys headed down to Baron's basement to prepare for the transition. Mark had Michelle draw Roman's blood to help with the ceremony. Kelly and I remained in the kitchen as the others got busy. "Thank you," she said after moments of silence, "you didn't have to do this for him." I looked up at her with a smile on my face. "Don't thank me yet. We don't know if this will even work. I hope it does. I...I mean this village cannot lose their leader. Everyone needs him." Kelly raised an eyebrow as she looked at me. "Do you like him?" I blushed and looked down at my hands. "You like him! Aw!" "Don't tease me," I sighed, fighting the smile, "Carmella teased me enough." "When did you see her," she asked. "When I ran out of here, I bumped into her. We went to a coffee shop and she explained everything to me. But can I ask you something that she brought up?" She nodded her head then raised an eyebrow when I blushed. "She um mentioned that Baron is an Alpha male and said that um the sex part...," I grew more embarrassed and couldn't continue. "Ooh," she chuckled, "I know what you're trying to ask. I can tell you from experience. Alpha males are so hot. A pain in the ass and clingy, but loving and caring. Corey is my Alpha and the sex is the best sex one could ever have. I can tell just by looking at him, Baron will rock your world. Hope you don't have to work the next day... Or days now that I think about it." "You don't have to say it like that!" She laughed as I shook my head. Jaime stuck his head in the door. "They're ready for you," he said before leaving. I stood up and took a deep breath as Kelly rubbed my arm. "It's going to be okay. We will take care of you," she reassured me as we walked out of the kitchen and headed down the basement.

We reached the bottom of the stairs and stood and watched as Mark and Steve got ready to start. "Don't worry, Maria," Mark put his hand on my shoulder as he continued, "you're in safe hands. We won't let anything bad happen. Steve and I have once helped with this once before. However, this is different since Baron can't help, but we have an alternative that should work." I nodded and sighed as I walked to the center of the room. "I'm ready." Mark walked up to me, holding a cup and passed it to me. "I know you won't like this, but this should help speed up the transition." I looked inside the cup. It was filled with a red liquid. "What is it?" "Baron's blood. Usually, he would have to bite you to change you, but since he's down, this should be a good alternative. If that doesn't work, then one of us will have to bite you. But let's just see if this will help." I took a deep breath as he brought the cup to his lips and tipped it, the red, warm liquid entering his mouth. I shuddered as the metallic taste filled my mouth and slid down my throat as I emptied the cup. I groaned at the taste as I looked up at Steve and Mark. Steve studied me carefully, walking around me, before stooping and moved my hair to the side as he looked at the mark. "I think it got bigger." Mark walked over and touched the mark, causing me to move away slightly. "Are you okay?" I let out a breath. "My body feels heavy and sore." I groaned as I tried to move my arm, "Feels like my heart is going to explode." Mark and Steve looked at each other. "Maybe one of us should bite her and ease the pain. And maybe it will speed up the transition." Steve shrugged. "Worth a shot. Who's gonna bite her?" "I'll do it," Corey said eagerly and bared his teeth as he began to walk towards me. Kelly put her hand in front of his face, making him walk into it. "What are you doing?" Kelly folded her arms and raised her eyebrow. "You're a little too eager to bite her, Mr. He shouldn't do it." Corey smiled nervously as Kelly cleared her throat. "I'll do it." Corey pouted. "Why do you get to do it but I can't?" "Because I said so. Besides, she may be more comfortable with me than you," she explained as Corey glared. "That's not fair!" "Who said life is fair?!" Steve rubbed his temples and shouted at them. "Ladies. Ladies. You're both pretty!" Kelly and Corey stopped their bickering to looked at Steve, confused but neither said a word. Mark tilted my head to the side and sunk his teeth into my neck. I struggled at first but soon relaxed as the pain went away. Mark stepped away and carefully looked me over. "Any change?" I took a deep breath. "The pain went away, but my heart still feels like it want to tear out of my chest." Mark and Steve looked at each other. "That means you're getting ready to change. Soon your heart will stop beating all together and the pain will return, only this time it will be more intense and unbearable. Basically, it will be like your body is dying. Whatever you do, do not pass out no matter how bad the pain is." I nodded and sunk to the floor as I began to feel my legs go numb. My breathing began to grow rapid as it felt like my chest was tightening. I stared at my trembling hands as sharp pains began to course through my body. I groaned loudly and laid on my side, the pain hitting me in waves, each wave stronger than the last. Sweat rained down my face as I curled up into a ball. "We have to help her," Corey shouted. He started to run towards me, but Mark held him back. "Just wait." Corey looked up at Mark then back at me. "Wait for what? For her to die? Can't you do something?" I rolled over onto my knees and punched the floor, roaring in pain. I could no longer feel my heart beating in my chest, my vision was getting blurry. I feared that I was about to die. I punched the floor again and shook my head. No, I couldn't die yet, I thought. I had to keep going, I had to save Baron. I growled and punched the floor again, this time cracking it. Steve walked over to me carefully and looked at me. "Her body and strength are changing. Maria, look up at me." I slowly rose my head to look at him. I could clearly see Steve in front of me, but felt his presence near me. Steve eyes grew wide. "Mark, look at this." Mark walked over and looked at me

"Your eyes are blood red with black slit pupils, kind of like cat eyes," Mark stated, "Could she be changing to a hybrid?" Steve nodded, "seems that way. This is incredible." I groaned and put my head on the cool floor. My bones were cracking in my body, adding to the pain. Mark carefully placed his hand on me. "Maria, listen. You have to relax your muscles or else they will rip off the bones. I know the pain hurts, but you have to relax." Blood tears poured out of my eyes as I took deep breaths and tried to relax. "Good. Just relax. This part will be quick. Your bones are changing their size and shape to accommodate your body." I relaxed slowly as my bones changed. I laid on the floor, the pain starting to drift. I sighed with relief and closed my eyes. "No. Maria, you have to stay awake." I opened my eyes slowly and nodded. My body felt heavy like lead and my mind was fuzzy. My energy was gone and I couldn't feel my heart beating. Michelle returned to the room and checked my pulse. "She doesn't have a pulse. Maria, can you hear me?" I looked at her and nodded slowly. Steve slowly and carefully turned me over onto my back. Michelle put her hand to my chest. "She doesn't have a heart beat either." Steve and Mark looked at each other. "So now what," Corey asked. "I think we give her some blood and see what happens." Michelle went back to Baron's room and returned with a cup of his blood. Steve let me lean against him so I could drink the blood. Michelle held the cup to my lips and tilted it back so the blood went into my mouth and down my throat. I blinked a few times as my vision began to clear up. I looked around the room. Everything look so clear. I smiled weakly at Corey and Kelly as they watched with concern on their faces. I slowly lifted up my arms and looked at my hands. "Is it done yet?" Steve looked over at Mark. "Honestly, we have no idea. You're different from what someone in the past has went through." I collapsed onto the floor. "Oh no. Maria? Maria? Can you hear me? Come on Maria, wake up!"

I groaned softly and opened one eye. "Maria, can you hear me?" I sat up silently with a blank stare on my face. Michelle looked at me carefully. "Maria?" I continue to stare silently. Michelle carefully reached out towards me. I grabbed her hand and stared at her. "Maria, can you hear me?" I shook my head and blinked. I looked at Michelle and quickly let go of her hand. "Sorry." "Are you okay?" I looked at my body slowly. My muscles were bigger and more toned than before. My vision, hearing, and smell were also better. My skin was pale like a ghost. "Yeah, I'm okay. Everything seems different. My vision is so much better than it was before." Michelle looked at my eyes. "Hmm your eyes changed." Michelle pulled out a hand mirror and gave it to me. I stared at my eyes, touching my face, making sure it was all real. My pupils were no longer brown. They were big, black orbs, making me look soulless. "Is this a permanent change?" Mark shrugged. "I don't know. Close your eyes and picture how your eyes originally looked." I nodded and closed my eyes. I made a mental picture in my mind of how my eyes use to look. I took a deep breath and concentrated. I opened my eyes slowly and looked into the mirror. My eyes were back to their original color and I sighed with relief. "So I can change my appearance now?" Mark nodded. "Yeah, but take things slow. Don't want to tire yourself out on the first day." I nodded, handed Michelle back the mirror and stood up. "Now, let's go help Baron and bring him back to us."

I headed up the stairs to go to Baron's room, Steve and the others slowly following behind me. Michelle leaned towards Mark and whispered, "How is she able to move around and talk without a pulse?" Mark shrugged. "We don't know. There's not any hybrids around. This has never happened before, that we know of. We have to keep a close eye on her and study this. Listen, how about you go in there with her and check on Baron's condition then leave her in there?" Michelle nodded and caught up with me. Mark told the others to stay outside and watch from the hallway go see what happens. I walked into the room and looked at Baron. I walked to the side of the bed and sat on the edge of the bed and stared at Baron as Michelle quietly check his temperature and changed the IV bag. She glanced at me as she worked and quickly exited the room. Mark looked at his wife when she came out. "Well?" She turned to look at everyone. "No change in Baron. His temperature is stable. But...," she looked at the door then back at the others before continuing, "Maria is in some kind of trance like state." "What do you mean?" "I mean, she didn't take her eyes off of Baron once she entered the room. And her eyes changed back to the way they were before, blood red with black slits." Steve walked towards the door and cracked it open and peeked inside. I had a strange aura coming out of me that filled the room. The air was thick and I was staring down at Baron. Steve quietly walked inside and looked me over. I was holding Baron's hand close to my cheek. Steve slowly reached out towards me, but stopped. He didn't want to disturb me so he quietly left the room. "Yeah. She's in a trance. It's best we just leave her be. Maybe she can bring Baron back." Corey looked at Steve. "But how?" "I don't know but for now, we just have to wait." Steve shut the door and sighed. "Hopefully, she can bring him back. If she can figure her powers, whatever they may be, she can probably reach out to him." Corey sunk down to the floor and stared at the door. "Please bring him back, Maria. Please bring back our leader, my brother." Kelly sat next to him and hugged his arm. "Don't worry, baby. We will get Baron back. Just have faith."

I stared at Baron as I slowly rubbed Baron's hand on my cheek. I closed my eyes slowly and said a silent prayer. "Please wake up, Baron. Please!" My head began to ache as I felt a presence near. I opened my eyes and looked around. Only me and Baron were in the room. I looked back at Baron, confused. I closed my eyes again and concentrated. The room slowly disappeared as I concentrated. When I opened my eyes again, everything around me had changed. I looked around to see a dark, desolate land covered with sand and hills, devoid of any life. I looked behind me to see a large door. I placed my hand on the door, assuring that it's really there. "I guess this will be the way back. Right, gotta find Baron." I turned around and began walking. I looked around for any signs of life, but to no avail. "Baron...where are you?" I kept wandering around for what seemed like hours. I called out to Baron, but didn't get a response. Soon I stumbled upon a white building. I pushed on the door, the door letting out a loud creaking sound as it opened as I stepped inside and looked around. The room was big, but empty as I walked deeper inside. I could see clearly as if the room was lit, but in reality it was pitch black. I reached another door and opened it slowly. A dim light was on as Baron was in the center, his arms chained behind his back. "Baron," I called out to him as I ran towards him. Baron lifted his head slowly, not believing what his eyes were seeing. "Maria?" I embraced Baron, happy that he wasn't harmed. "Yeah, it's me. Are you okay? I'll get you out of these chains." "I'm okay. What are you...How did you get here," Baron asked, confused as I quickly untangled the chains and freed him. "That's a long story that will have to wait. Right now, we have to get you out of here." Baron stretched his arms, rubbing his sore muscles. "Wait," Baron grabbed my wrist as I was about to leave. "Did you see anyone on your way here?" I looked at him, confused. "No. Why?" He furrowed his brows. "Stay behind me." He stood in front of me as we headed towards the door. "Why? What's wrong," I asked as the door slammed shut. Baron glared at the door as laughter was heard from the other as side. "What was that?" He turned to me. "The ruler of the Underworld, Bray Wyatt. He collects the souls and controls those who have been damned to eternal torment. Simply put, those who fail to find their soul mates lose their sanity and can be dragged down here to the Underworld and forced to serve Bray." Bray laughed again as lights came on and he appeared in front of us. "That's right, Baron. You might as well give up. No one will love someone like you. I mean, this little kitten ran out on you once. She will do it again." I glared at Bray and started walking towards him until Baron grabbed my arm and held me back. "Back off, Wyatt. I still have my sanity which means you can not have my soul." Bray laughed as he walked around us. "Yeah, but for how long, boy? It's just a matter of time before she leaves you. Plus, she's a human. How pathetic. She won't live as long as you. This won't last. Give up now. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable." I broke free from Baron's grasp and ran towards Bray, slapping him in the face. "Take that back, you bastard. I would never hurt him. He's mine and I'm never leaving him." He chuckled as he grabbed my wrist. "Feisty, what a turn on. Maybe I'll keep her for myself." I shivered and snatched my arm away from him as Baron pulled me backwards and moved us away from Bray as he looked at me and his eyes growing wide when he looked into me face. My eyes were red with black slits and my teeth were razor sharp like fangs. "Maria...Maria, calm down. Relax." I took a deep breath and relaxed, tearing my eyes away from Bray and looked at Baron. "That's right. Relax." Bray stared at me. "What the hell are you? You're no ordinary human. What are you?" Baron lifted me up and put me on his back as we walked out the door, ignoring Bray. "Let's go."

We quickly left the building as we headed towards the door. "I'm sorry," I said. "I lost my cool and I just took it out on him. I didn't mean to do it." Baron stopped and looked over his shoulder at me. "Don't worry about it. You have to explain to me what the hell happened to you while I was unconscious." I scratched my head nervously. "I kind of asked Mark and Steve to transform me into one of you guys." He stayed silent for awhile as he set me down on the ground and turned to face me before speaking. "Who bit you? Was it Corey? Answer me," he stared deep into eyes. "No. Corey didn't bite me. Mark bit me." He sighed. "Good. As long as it wasn't Corey, I'm okay with it. I wish it was me, but I trust Mark and Steve." I laughed. "Okay, what's wrong with Corey? You don't trust him with anything." He chuckled and shook his head. "I'm not the only one. I mean I love him like my brother but he can be a pain in the neck." I laughed as we reached the door. "So this is where you came from to get here," he asked. "Yep. Everyone's waiting so let's go." "Wait." I stopped and looked at him. "What's wrong? Aren't you ready to go?" He stared at me. I could tell that something was eating at him, but he didn't say anything. He shook his head. "Nothing. Let's go." I pushed the door opened and we walked inside.

Baron slowly opened his eyes to see the familiar ceiling that he knew. He looked towards the side and saw me looking at him with a smile on my face. "Welcome back." He smiled and slowly sat up. "Glad to be back. Where's everyone else at?" I got off the bed and walked towards the door, opening it. "He's back." Corey rushed in and jumped onto Baron. "Baron! Oh I have missed you so much! I was so worried about you!" Baron groaned and pushed him off. "Ugh! You're so clingy." Corey pouted. "I've missed you. Of course I'm gonna be clingy. I have every right to be clingy." Kelly pushed Corey to the side and patted Baron on the shoulder. "Good to have you back, big guy." "Thanks, Kelly." Mark and Steve watched Barkn carefully as he interacted with the others. "He seems to be okay," Steve whispered to Mark. "Yeah, but just in case," Mark looked at his wife. "Michelle, check him please." Michelle nodded and walked over to Baron and checked his vitals. "Well his temperature is back to normal, his heart beats are steady. He's fine." Mark nodded and looked at everyone. "Can everyone leave the room? We need to speak with Baron." Everyone nodded and started leaving the room. Steve grabbed me just as I was walking out. "Why don't you stay? You might have some questions about what we are about to discuss." I shut the door and sat down next to the bed. Baron sighed and looked at the elders. "What happened while I was out?" Steve took a deep breath before speaking. "You see, we were trying to figure out how to bring you back. It was either wait and see what would happen, but we changed our minds, fearing the worse could've happened while we just sat around. So we decided to see if Maria could help in any way. We saw the mark you put on her." Baron scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry about that, Maria." I smirked and shook my head. "Don't worry about it." "Luckily, it made it easier for her to transition from human. It was a rather quick process. We did have to draw some blood from you to give to her." Baron looked at me. "So you took my blood? I take my apology for branding you back then." I rolled my eyes as Steve continued. "Her heart did stop a few times and she had some pain, but since your blood was already in her system, she didn't suffer too much. But...she is different." Baron raised an eyebrow. "You mean she's like us right?" Steve looked at Mark and Mark looked at us. "No. She's what is known as a hybrid." I looked between the two men. "What's a hybrid?" Steve and Mark exchanged looks before Steve began to speak. "A hybrid is a cross between a human and an immortal. Kind of like a superior being, more powerful than even us. You have unique abilities and powers that surpass even us. You're very unique, Maria. You need to be careful. Who knows what you can do? It's very rare to find a hybrid nowadays." I looked down and stared at my hands. "So I'm a hybrid? That means I can be useful to you. I can help out around here, right? I won't be a burden on any of you." I smiled and looked at the others. Baron ruffled my hair. "You're not a burden to anyone. I'm glad you want to help, but we need to study your powers. Who knows what abilities you may have? This is new to us. This is going to take some time to get use to." I stared down at the floor in silence. I just want to be useful to everyone, but I knew that I wouldn't be much help if I didn't figure out how my new powers worked. "Okay. I understand." Mark placed a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry. You're in good hands." I smiled and nodded. Michelle walked up to me and checked my vitals. "Amazing. Your heart is beating again and you have a pulse," she said, staring at me, "Hmm we need to keep a close eye on you from now on." I nodded my head as she left the room. "Now that that's all said and done, let's go eat." Mark and Steve left the bedroom, leaving Baron and I alone. I looked over at him, smiling. "Glad to have you back. Glad you're back with us." Baron pulled me into an embrace. "Thanks." I smiled and wrapped my arms around him. I buried my face into his neck, inhaling his scent. Baron pulled back and looked me in my eyes. "Promise me you won't push yourself too hard?" I smiled and nodded. "Good. Let's go to the others. They're waiting on us." I remembered everything we went through and everything I said. I wanted to properly tell Baron how I really felt, now that we're alone. I grew nervous and looked down as my face turned red. "Are you okay, Maria? You're red like an apple." "I have to tell you something, now that we're alone." He stared at me as I continued to speak. "I...I like you...more than a friend. I started falling for you when we first started hanging out, but couldn't muster up the courage to tell. And I thought you wouldn't understand my feelings and reject me. I'm also afraid of being hurt again so I decided to ignore my feelings, but then I heard that you could die and I didn't want to lose you." I kept looking down, waiting for his response. Baron wrapped his arms around me. "I'm glad you told me. I didn't want to push you or force you to like me. I feel the same way and not because you're my soulmate and we have to be together, but let's just take this one day at a time. Until you can get use to everything." I finally looked up at Baron and smiled. He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on my lips. "Come on. Let's go."


	7. Our First Real Date

Baron and I left the bedroom and headed towards the kitchen where everyone was waiting at the table. Jaime was setting the plates when he saw us enter the kitchen. "Glad to have you back, Boss. Thought you had left me with Corey and Kelly." Baron chuckled as he sat next to Steve. I sat between Baron and Corey, who was smiling from ear to ear. "Don't worry. I would never do that to you. That's cruel and unusual punishment." Jaime laughed as he fixed everyone's plates and sat down with his own plate. I practically shoveled my food into my mouth. Steve stared at me. "Good God woman. Do you always eat like this?" I nodded happily. "I'm starving. Feels like I haven't eaten in days." Steve chuckled. "Hmm well after everything that happened, there's no surprise that you have such a huge appetite. Try to breath between each bite at least." Everyone laughed as they enjoyed their meal.

After lunch, Baron walked Steve, Mark and Michelle to the door. Mark looked back at Baron. "Remember to keep an eye on her. Maybe start training and see if she can activate any of her powers. We just want to see what she's capable of. She has to be a strong individual if she was able to bring you back." Baron nodded and shook his hand. "Thanks for everything. I'll let you know how everything is going over the next few days." "Good. If you need us, you know how to reach us. Just don't have Corey come get us, please. He's so annoying. Lovable but annoying." Baron laughed as they left and closed the door. He returned to the living room where we were hanging out. "Did they say they will miss me," Corey joked. "No but he did say you were lovable but annoying." Kelly looked at Corey. "Yeah that sounds about right." Corey pouted as Baron laughed as he sat on the couch next to me. "You know we love you. We're just having fun." Corey playfully poked out his lip. "At the expense of my feelings." Kelly raised an eyebrow. "So we can't poke fun of you but you can annoy us to death?" Corey smiled. "Exactly." Kelly rolled her eyes. "Yeah. It doesn't work that way and won't work that way." Corey chuckled and leaned against Kelly. "Whatever. I'm happy to be the butt of everyone's jokes. Makes me feel important. Plus it shows how much you love me." Kelly ruffled Corey's hair. "Yeah yeah yeah." I watched the couple playfully argue and thought about myself and Baron. I looked over at Baron from the corner of my eye. Baron was smiling and laughing at his two best friends. I wanted to get closer to Baron. Taking a deep breath and calming my nerves, I leaned over and rested my head on Baron's shoulder. Baron smiled and put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer without saying a word. Corey smirked as he looked towards Baron and I. "When do you plan on figuring out what abilities Maria have?" Baron shrugged. "The sooner the better, I guess. But seeing how this is just the first day, maybe we should wait. Don't want to wear her out now." I looked up at Baron. "But I want to start today. I want to see what I can do," I whined. "Yeah. Let's start today," Corey joined in. "See? Corey agrees with me." Baron sighed. "That's the last person you want to agree with." Corey rolled his eyes. "Come on. I know you're curious. We all are. It's not like a hybrid is normal around here." Baron looked over at Kelly. Kelly shrugged. "I don't know what to say. I mean they have a point. I know you don't want to push her, but this is a good time to do it. We saw one power, which was going into your mind and bringing you back." Baron rubbed his beard. "Fine. We will do this one day at a time." I smiled at him. "Thanks. I'm eager to learn. " Baron smiled. "Good. Let's go to the basement then."

We went to the basement and got everything ready. Baron stood in the center, thinking about what we should try. "Maybe we should start with changing forms." I nodded. "Okay, relax your body and close your eyes." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "Good. Now picture an animal in your mind. Any animal and picture it." I pictured a white wolf in my mind. "When you have the animal in mind, concentrate on the entire body, every detail of its body from head to toe." "But what if the animal she's thinking of doesn't have toes," Corey asked. "Shut up, Corey. Ignore him and concentrate on the animal in your mind. Focus on the appearance." Heat built up and the air around me changed as my body began to change. Two white ears popped up on my head and a long, fluffy white tail came out from behind me. "You're doing great, Maria. Just keep focusing on your animal." Sweat ran down my face as I concentrated. White fur began to cover my body as it shrunk down onto all fours. I opened my eyes and looked around. "Wow. You did it," Baron said, holding up a mirror. "Wow. I did it. This is so cool." Baron raised an eyebrow. "Wait. Say something else." "Okay. Did I mess up?" Corey walked up to me. "No but we have never had someone change into a wolf and talk like a normal person. This is awesome." Baron folded his arms and looked at me. "That is kind of cool, I have to admit. I'm kind of jealous. But anyways, try to change back." I nodded and closed my eyes. I concentrated on my human appearance as my body began to change back to its original shape. I opened my eyes and looked at my hands. "That was cool." "Umm, Maria," Baron said as Corey burst out laughing. "What? What's funny?" Baron held up a mirror. I looked at the mirror to see the wolf ears still on my head. "Huh? Wait." I closed my eyes and pictured the ears gone from my head. I opened my eyes and checked, but the ears were still there. "What the fuck? I can't get them to disappear." Corey covered his mouth to silence his laughs. "This isn't funny. Tell him, Baron." Baron had turned around, his shoulders shaking from laughter. "You guys," I whined, "help me." Baron turned back around and petted me. "I'm sure they will go away on their own." I leaned into Baron's touch as he petted me, loving the feeling of his hand on my head. "Why not change into something else? Maybe that will work," Corey suggested after he finally stopped laughing. I looked at Baron. "Worth the shot. Think of something else and give it a shot." I nodded and concentrated. It didn't take long for me to change into an anaconda. "Well at least you're getting faster," Baron said, "and the ears are gone." "Awesome," I hissed. I focused on my appearance and changed back to my original form. I patted myself down. "Everything is finally back to normal." Baron stared at me. "What now?" Baron held up the mirror. My eyes were red with black slits. "Aw come on. Give me a break." Baron smiled. "Don't worry about it. That will change back soon. So we know you can enter people's minds and change forms. Try to read someone's mind. Focus on one of us and try to read our mind." I nodded and looked at Baron. "No! Read my mind," Corey shouted and stood in front of me. Baron rolled his eyes as I focused on Corey. "Hmm, you're thinking about going out for drinks tonight." Corey looked at me. "Wow. She's right." Baron nodded and smiled. "That does sound good right now. Let's go for a drink tonight." Corey immediately rushed out the door. Kelly groaned and chased after him. I laughed and looked at Baron as we left the basement. "Am I gonna have to deal with that too?" Baron smiled. "Oh yeah." We laughed as we grabbed our coats and headed out.

Baron got into the driver side of his car as I got into the passenger side. "I'm so happy I have these new abilities." Baron smiled as he started the car and drove out of the garage. "Good. We will keep practicing and trying new things until you become a pro." I smiled and looked at him. "As long as you're with me, I feel like I can do anything." Baron smirked as we drove to the bar. He parked the car and looked at me. "I'm glad to have you with me. I haven't been this happy in a long time." I smiled and leaned over and gave him a kiss on the lips. We smiled at each other before we exited the car and went inside the bar. Corey and Kelly were already at a table with shots lined up. Baron leaned into me. "Try not to drink too much. We don't know what effects alcohol will have on your body." I nodded as we made our way to the table. Corey held up a glass. "I want to propose a toast to Maria. Thanks for bringing back our leader to us." We held up our glasses before downing them. I shuddered as the alcohol went down my throat. "Are you okay," Baron asked, looking at me and I nodded. "Yeah. It just taste so different." "Yeah. Your taste buds also changed so everything just takes time to get use to." I nodded and downed another shot, this one going down smoothly. Corey put an arm around Baron. "I'm so glad to have you back. I wouldn't know how to break the news that I would have to take over as the leader." Baron smirked. "Everyone would laugh at you. I couldn't let you run this village. Everyone would leave." Corey stuck his tongue out and rested against Kelly. Baron looked at me to see me eating pretzels. "What's wrong? Don't want to drink? We can leave if you want." I shook my head and replied, "That's okay. I don't want to ruin your fun." Baron smiled and stood up. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet, and we made our way to the door. "5 bucks says Baron will fuck her," Corey smirked at Kelly. "5 bucks says he won't." "Deal." They shook hands and continued drinking.

Baron and I got into his car and left. "We didn't have to leave because of me. I was fine." Baron smiled. "Don't worry about it. I didn't want to drink either. I rather relax at home with you." I blushed as Baron smiled at me. "Besides, you had a long day. You should be tired. I know I am." I shrugged. "Yeah. I guess with everything that was happening, I just forced myself to keep going. I wanted to rescue you. I wanted to see you. To hear your voice. I'm glad I could help," I blushed. "Me too," Baron said as he parked in his garage. We went inside and got ready for bed. I hopped in the shower as Baron went into his room and showered. He stepped out of the shower and dried off. He looked over his body. "So glad to be back," he whispered to himself. He brushed his hair back before putting on a tank top and shorts. He stepped out of the bathroom to see me sitting on the edge of the bed. "Is everything okay," Baron asked as he got into bed. I nodded and blushed. "Yeah. Um I was wondering if I could sleep here tonight? I just want to be close to you. If that's okay." Baron smiled and nodded. "It's okay." I smiled as I laid next to Baron. Baron turned off the lamp next to him and heard soft snoring. He looked over at me to see me fast asleep. Baron smiled and kissed my forehead. "Good night, baby," he whispered, "I'll be right here when you wake up. I promise." He laid down close to me and fell asleep.

Baron felt the warming rays of the sun on his back and he inhaled deeply. He felt something fuzzy against his face and thought one of his wolves had jumped in the bed. He buried his face deep into the fuzz and smiled. Then he felt something tighten around his waist. He opened his eyes and there wasn't a wolf in sight. "Huh?" He looked down and saw me buried in his chest with our arms wrapped around each other. He smiled as he ran his fingers through my soft black hair. I nuzzled into his touch and opened one eye and looked at Baron. "Good morning, baby," Baron said, kissing me on my forehead. I rubbed my cheek against Baron's chest. "Mm good morning," I said, sounding half asleep. I never knew that one day I would find myself waking up in the arms of such a handsome man like Baron, but I was loving every minute of it. Baron smiled as he rolled over onto his back, pulling me on top of him. I blushed and hid my face in the crook of Baron's neck. Baron pulled me up slightly, forcing me to look him in the eyes. "What's the matter, baby?" I blushed even more as I stared at Baron. "I'm a little embarrassed," I finally admitted. Baron looked at me before speaking. "Why? You weren't a second ago. Don't worry or be embarrassed. I'm not going to force you into anything if you don't want to. We will take everything slow. We will work on us before doing anything else. This is all new to me too so let's just take this one day at a time, okay?" I nodded and laid my head on Baron's chest and closed my eyes, listening to Baron's steady heartbeat before falling back asleep. Baron smiled, looking at me sleeping on his chest peacefully, before falling back asleep.

XXX

Corey and Kelly entered Baron's home and headed straight for the kitchen, hoping to find Baron and Maria. Instead, they found Jaime in there cooking. Corey looked around before sitting down at the table. "Hey Jaime," he shouted, visibly startling the man. Jaime sighed and continued cooking. "Hey, Corey. Hey, Kelly." "Hey, Jaime," Kelly responded, sitting in her usual spot next to Corey. "Where's Maria and Baron? Baron never stays in bed this long. Usually he's up and trying to kick us out for eating all of his food," Corey joked. Jaime smirked. "True, but after everything that happened, he's probably worn out. Same with Maria. Those two went through hell and back. They deserve to relax and sleep in." Corey and Kelly looked at each other. "Wait," Corey smirked, "are they in Baron's room?" Jaime placed plates in front of the two. "Yeah. I think Maria spent the night in there. When I got here, the room she was sleeping in was empty. Baron had his door closed too." Corey smirked and looked at Kelly. "Doesn't mean anything happened," Kelly said, rolling her eyes. Jaime raised an eyebrow. "Did I miss something?" Kelly looked at Jaime. "Corey made a stupid bet that Maria and Baron would fuck and I said that Baron isn't like him so nothing happened, I'm positive." Jaime shook his head as he fixed his own plate and sat down. "You two have nothing better to do." Corey chuckled and looked at Jaime. "Well I still think something happened last night for them to be in the bed still. Kelly, get ready to pay up, baby." Kelly rolled her eyes and kissed Corey's forehead. "Yeah. Keep thinking what you want. I'm telling you nothing happened. Just wait and see."

XXX

I opened my eyes slowly and looked up into the handsome face of my love. I smiled and rubbed my cheek against Baron's chest before sitting up. I looked out the window and saw the sun peeking out of the clouds. Baron stirred softly and opened his eyes. I smiled and leaned down to place a tender kiss on Baron's lips. "I hope I can wake up to this more often," Baron said, running his fingers through my hair. I blushed and stared at Baron. "Who knows? Maybe you will get to wake up to this every morning from now on." Baron pulled me into a tight embrace. "That's all I have ever wanted. Now let's go eat before everyone starts worrying about us." I chuckled as I rolled off of Baron and got out of bed. Baron sat up and stretched before getting out of bed and opening his closet to look for clothes. I stepped into the bathroom and shut the door. I splashed cold water on my face as I stood in front of the mirror. I stripped down and admired my new body. My muscles were bigger and more toned than before and my abs were rock hard as if I've been working out for years, but I haven't. I stepped into the shower and turned the water on, the hot water running down my body. I kept thinking about Baron and sleeping in his arms and blushed. I couldn't believe that I was with an awesome guy like Baron, but I was glad that I was. As the soap ran down my body, I looked at my chest and raised an eyebrow. "What the fuck," I muttered under my breath. I reached down and cupped them. "Did they…..get bigger," I mumbled as I continued to rub them. "Wow. This is….wow," I chuckled as I finished my shower and got out. I dried off and tied a towel around myself before exiting the bathroom. Baron was in front of his mirror brushing his hair. I looked at the bed and saw fresh clothes laid out for me. "Thanks for getting my clothes for me," I said, looking at the clothes that was on the bed. "No problem, baby." I blushed when Baron called me "baby" and quickly put on my bra and panties before dropping the towel. Baron pushed his hair back over his shoulders before turning to look at me. "Cool tattoo," he said as he walked towards me and looked at the dragon tattoo on my back. "Thanks," I said while I pulled my shirt over my head. "Your hair is longer." I ran my fingers through my hair. "Huh? That's weird. Is that part of my transition?" He shrugged as I put on my jeans and boots. "Maybe, I'm not sure, " he said. "Oh well. I'll cut it later. Let's go eat. I'm starving." Baron chuckled, shaking his head as he followed me.

We entered the kitchen where Kelly, Corey, and Jaime were sitting. Corey looked up and smiled. "It's about time you two lovebirds got out of bed. I thought I would have to come get you," Corey teased. Baron rolled his eyes as he and I sat down. "Oh shut up. We were tired and wanted to sleep in a little. Is that a crime," Baron teased. Corey held his hands up in surrender. "I guess not. Maria, are you okay? Your face is all red." I bit his lip before answering. "Yeah. I'm fine." "Are you sure," Corey asked, trying to get answers from me, "Your face is red and your hair is longer. I just want to make sure my best friend is okay." "I said I'm fine." Corey smirked. "I'm just making sure. You don't have to hide anything from us, you know? If you ever need someone to talk to, you can come to me. I can give you friendly advice on anything, like your powers, getting around this village, sex advice." My eyes went wide as I lowered my face and hid my face in my hands. "Leave her alone," Kelly said, "she doesn't need you to know about her sex life." Corey shrugged. "I'm just trying to help. Maybe she didn't know what to do last night and I just want to help her out." I raised my head and looked at him. "Nothing happened last night! We just slept in the same bed." Everyone looked at me in silence. Baron shook his head as Corey spoke. "Damn it. I can't believe I lost the bet." Kelly smirked. "Told you so. Baron isn't like you." Baron looked over at Kelly and Corey. "Wait. Were you two betting on whether or not I would fuck Maria?" Kelly pointed to Corey. "No, he came up with the bet after you two left last night. I told him you're not like him and that you wouldn't do it." Corey chuckled and looked at Baron who was giving him the death stare. "It was a joke I promise." Baron rubbed his temples. "What am I going to do with you two?" Corey smiled. "Love us unconditionally?" Baron glared at Corey. "Um me and Kelly have to run. Thanks for the breakfast, Jaime!" Corey dashed out of the kitchen and was out the front door. Kelly groaned and stood up. "See you guys later." She walked out the kitchen and out the front door to catch up with Corey. Jaime laughed as he served Baron and I our food. "I'm out too. Going shopping with Sarah. Later, guys." Jaime left, leaving us alone for the first time ever. I looked at the food and my mouth began to water. Baron sighed. "Sorry about Corey. He can be a little overbearing sometimes." I smiled as I chewed on a piece of bacon. "It's fine. Still learning more about him each day. Kelly is laid back, isn't she?" Baron sipped on his juice. "Yeah. That's why we get along so well. She's more laid back and not as loud and obnoxious like Corey. How those two ended up soul mates is still a mystery. But whatever makes them happy." I chuckled as I enjoyed my breakfast in peace with Baron.

After breakfast, Baron and I decided to take a stroll around the village. Baron wanted to show me all the places he love to go to and introduce me to new people in the village. The sound of the snow crunching beneath our feet filled me with joy as we walked side by side. "This village is huge and the buildings are so beautiful," I said, looking at the old buildings as we walked. "Yeah. Most of the buildings are hundreds of years old. Our library is the oldest building in the entire village. Our ancestors build it and have been well maintained throughout the years." Baron pointed to a large building in the distance. "It holds every ancient book ever written about this village, our ancestors, and just about anything else you can think of." My eyes lit up with excitement and grabbed his arm. "Can we go there? I want to learn more about this village." Baron smiled and put his hand on top of mine. "Sure. We can do anything you want today."

We headed towards the large building when a bubbly voice called out to them. "Baron! Maria," Carmella ran up to us and hugged Baron. "Hey, Car. How are you," Baron smiled as Carmella released him and hugged me. "I'm great. So glad to see you two. Especially you, Baron. I heard you passed out, but glad to see you're doing great." Baron smiled. "Yeah. I'm fine. Well I'm better than ever with this beautiful girl by my side." I blushed as Carmella squealed with excitement. "Yay! I'm so happy for you two. See, Maria? I told you everything would work out if you just tell him how you feel." Baron raised an eyebrow and looked between us. "Wait. What did you tell her?" Carmella looked at me then Baron, and chuckled nervously. "Oh look at the time. I have to go. Bye, you lovebirds." Carmella quickly dashed away with a smile on her face. "What did she tell you, Maria?" I began to speed walk towards the library. Baron rolled his eyes and smiled. "Fine. Don't tell me then." He quickly caught up to me as we entered the building.

"Wow," I said looking around the large room. Shelves were filled with books and people were everywhere, chatting and reading books. Baron looked at the gleam in my eyes as I looked around. "So anything in particular you want to read about?" I looked at Baron and shrugged. "I want to know everything, honestly. Like how did this species begin? Or how did hybrids begin? What's the difference between us?" Baron rubbed his chin, thinking. "Hm. Well maybe meeting with an elder will help better than books. Come on. Let's head upstairs where it's less crowded." I followed Baron as we headed upstairs. Baron smiled and waved at some of the people that spoke to him as we walked up the stairs. When we reached the top of the stairs, a deep voice greeted Baron. "Hey Baron. It's been awhile." Baron smiled and looked towards a male with short blonde hair who was speaking to him. "Hey, Ric. It has been awhile. How have you been?" Baron walked over and hugged the older man. "Oh, I'm just fine for an old man. And who might that be?" I smiled and held out my hand. "Hi. I'm Maria Alexander. I'm umm." "She's with me," Baron finished when I grew quiet. "Ah. It's about time you found someone. Maria, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this guy to get with someone. Now I don't have to hear him complain about not finding love." Baron chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Anyways, Ric, Maria wants to learn about our history. Also she is a newly converted hybrid." Ric looked me over and motioned us to follow him to a private corner away from the people and noise. Baron and I sat at a table as Ric placed a few books down on the table and sat down. "Let's see. Where to begin?" Ric flipped through the pages of a book then paused before he pushed the book in front of me. I looked down at the book and saw a picture of what seemed like a normal human man. "Centuries ago, there was this guy who lived in America. He seems like an ordinary human, but he's not. What he didn't know was he was very different from everyone else. One day, there was a car accident. He was at a stop light and when the light turned green, he started to move forward when a tanker truck ran the red light and hit his car. He crawled out of his wrecked car and stood up. He felt no pain, but he was covered in blood and his leg was broken. He looked at his car and stared at it. It was completely crushed, no way he should be standing, but there he was, standing up with a broken leg and covered in blood. He pulled out a large shard of glass that was in his arm. Blood ran out, but he felt no pain. Then, before his eyes, the wound began to close on its own. He looked over his body and all of his wounds were closed. Even his broken leg was fixed. He looked around and saw people staring at him in awe as the ambulance pulled up and checked on him and the trucker." I looked down at the picture again. "So one guy figured out he was different from normal people after an accident that should've killed him? Wow. So did he have a better half that was also a supernatural being?" "No," Ric said, "She was just a normal person. When he found her, he married her and the urge to claim her, bind her to him for the rest of his life, took control of him and he bit her, injecting his blood into her. That's when her body began to change and soon she had the same abilities as him. Now the problem was that when word got out, scientists wanted to draw blood and conducted experiments on them. To prevent that from happening, they moved here to Moscow, Russia and began to start a family together. Each one of their children had the same abilities and traits as their parents and even had more powers. But as the children got older, they longed to have a life partner for themselves so they returned to America and started searching for their life partners. However, one of the sons did not find his lover in time and he began to lose control of himself and lost his sanity. Soon, he began to bite every human that dared to come his way. Over time, he converted three thousand people before he was stopped." Ric flipped the page and pointed to a picture. The picture showed a man like beast on the ground covered in blood with red glowing eyes and foam around its mouth. "After that, his body was taken to some government base for testing. All of the people he had bitten were quickly brought to Moscow to avoid the same fate as that young man. Now the government tested his blood, but couldn't figure out what caused his powers and how his bite could change others so they destroyed the body. One scientist, however, couldn't control his desire and curiosity, so he stole some of the blood that was tested. His hunger for knowledge clouded his judgement so he injected the blood straight into his veins. Now, biting someone and injecting them with the blood of an immortal and injecting the blood straight into the veins have two results. You see, when we bite someone in the neck, we're not injecting our blood into the veins, it's going straight into the bloodstream. When our blood is injected any other way, it will not end well. When he injected the blood into his veins, his body began to die essentially. His willingness to live was the only thing that saved him. His bones began to cracked and his body grew hot. Any of this sounds familiar, Maria?" I thought back to what happened in the basement and nodded. "Yeah. My bones cracked, I felt hot, everything was hurting. Wait. Are you saying that guy was turning into a hybrid?" Ric nodded. "The first one, actually. He was the only one at the time. Hybrids were very rare and they could blend end with humans very easily, unlike us. He thought he was a supernatural being, but he was more than that. You see, we can't go out and just walk around in America, because our bodies can't handle the weather there. Even having the sun on us can hurt us. We're like vampires except we don't explode when the sun is out. We just get weak. Hybrids, on the other hand, can just do whatever the hell they want. Man, I'm jealous." Baron and I laughed. "So hybrids and supernatural beings are slightly different from each other," Ric said. "But we are both seen as a threat to humans which is why we stay here in Moscow. We only travel when necessary. We're all like a huge family. We protect each other and care about each other. So, Maria, if you plan to stay here, then I suggest you get to know everyone. I'm sure you've met the village idiot?" I raised an eyebrow and looked at Baron. "He's talking about Corey. Yeah, she met him, Kelly, Cass, Enzo, Chris, and Carmella." Ric smiled. "Well, you're in good hands then. Unless you're left alone with Corey. Then call for help." We laughed and stood up. "Well, Ric, thanks for your time," I said and shook his hand. "No problem, kid. If you need me, I'll always be here. Or at a bar surrounded by beautiful women," Ric chuckled. "Ric, you're married," Baron reminded him. "Yeah I know. She's there too." Baron laughed and hugged him as we said our goodbyes and left.

I smiled from ear to ear as we walked outside. "Wow. That was amazing. Ric is so cool. So now what," I asked, turning to Baron. "Hmm, we can always go home and have wild uncontrollable sex." Baron laughed as my face turned bright red. "I'm joking. Let's go get something to eat, like a date. Our official date." I sighed and nodded as Baron walked forward, still laughing. I put my hand on my racing heart as I tried to calm my nerves. Baron looked back at me and smiled. "Relax. I won't do anything you're not ready to do." Baron grabbed my hand and pulled me into his arms and kissed me passionately. I felt the warmth of Baron's body and felt as if I could melt into his arms. Baron broke the kiss and smiled. I looked up at Baron and blushed. "Maria, your eyes changed again. Hm they're silver this time." I closed my eyes then opened them again and looked at Baron. "Better," Baron said. "It's kind of weird that they change like that when I kiss you. Maybe you're still getting use to your new body or something. I don't know." Baron pulled back slightly, still holding onto my hand. "Oh well. Let's go eat." I nodded as we walked towards a restaurant. "You will love this place. Our food is kind of different from what's in America but we should have something that you might like." "No, whatever they have is fine," I said, "No need to change just because of me. I should get use to it since I'm going to be living here." Baron smiled as he held the door open for me as we walked inside.

"Hi Baron," a loud woman with beautiful, long black hair and pale skin came running up to Baron and hugged him. "Hey, Paige. Still loud as always." "And you're still quiet as always. Who's this?" She looked behind Baron and waved at me. "That's Maria Alexander. She's with me." Paige smiled and hugged me. "Finally, you found someone. I hope you can make this guy talk louder than that." I laughed. "I'll try." "Paige, no one wants to be a loudmouth like you. Everyone would be deaf." Paige rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah yeah. I'll catch you guys later." Paige waved as she walked away. Baron chuckled as he found us a table and sat down. I sat across from Baron as Baron slid a menu in front of me. "Get whatever you want." I stared at the menu, not sure what to get. "Everything sounds delicious. I can't pick." Baron chuckled as a waiter came over. "Ready to order, sir?" "I'll have my usual. Maria, what will you have?" "Um, I'll have a burger with fries and a Coke." "Coming up." The waiter left as I looked around. "That Paige chick was loud but funny." Baron smiled. "Yeah. She's also a prank master so watch your back. Trust me. She got Corey good a few times." I laughed as the waiter returned with our food and drinks. My mouth watered as I looked at the food. "Everything looks delicious." The waiter smiled and left the table. I grabbed the ketchup bottle and began to squirt ketchup on my fries. Baron cut up his steak and held out a piece towards me. "Try this, baby girl." I blushed as he put the meat in my mouth and I ate it. "Mmm. It's so good. Best steak I have ever had." Baron smiled as he took a bite. "Yeah. I love the steak here. All of our food is fresh. No added hormones or preservatives are in any of the food that you eat here. You will never have to worry about food poisoning or anything." I grabbed my burger and bit into it. "I think I'm in love." Baron smiled. "I love you too." I looked at Baron. "I was talking about with the burger." Baron playfully pouted. "Aw. You love the burger more than me? Maria, I'm hurt." I stared at him. "You know that's not true. I love you more than anything." Baron smiled. "Good. I love you too." I blushed then smiled as we chatted while we ate. "Can I ask you something on a serious level," he asked, wiping his mouth and looked at me. I set down my cup and nodded. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Earlier, you said that you wanted to learn more about our people since you're staying here. So have you made up your mind about staying here?" I looked down for a second, thinking of all of the events before looking at him. "If I wasn't staying here, I wouldn't have gone through what I did just to leave. I really care about you and want to see where we're headed," I confessed. "That's what I wanted to hear," he said smiling at me as we finished our meals. "That burger was great," I said, eating a fry. "Told you that you would love this place. Can I have a fry, baby girl?" I nodded and slid the plate to the middle of the table. "Want to split one," Baron asked and winked. I blushed and looked at the crowd of people around them. "Oh come on. No one is paying attention to us. We're in our own world." Baron put a fry between his lips and leaned forward. I took a deep breath and leaned forward and took the other half of the fry into my mouth, our lips pressing against each other shortly before we separated. Baron smiled. "See? That's the best way to eat a fry." I smiled and grabbed the last fry and leaned forward. Baron chuckled and took the other half of the fry into his mouth, our lips meeting again then separated. "We should do this more often," Baron said with a smile. I nodded eagerly. "Yeah, this was fun. Although there is one thing missing." Baron leaned in to stare at me. "What's that? More food?" I laughed. "No. This." I leaned over and kissed Baron softly on the lips. Baron smiled. "Yeah. That's a perfect way to end a perfect date."


	8. Reality Sinks In

We left the restaurant and decided to take a stroll through the village, hand in hand, just enjoying each other's company. "How do you feel? You're not tired or hurting or anything are you," he asked, looking at me. I smiled up at him, rubbing my cheek on his arm. "I'm okay. Just enjoying our time together," I said. His phone buzzed in his pocket and we stopped walking for him to check. "We need to go back home. Michelle wants to check you out," he said, putting his phone away, "perfect time for us to test your powers." I didn't understand what he meant until he let go of my hand and took a few steps away from me. The air around us shifted as he shifted into a wolf in front of me. "Ooh. That's what you meant," I said and focused my energy towards changing. I focused on my appearance and the appearance of a wolf until my body shrunk down and became covered with fur, a tail and ears forming on me. I opened my eyes and wagged my tail after I've successfully changed forms. "Good job, baby girl." I heard his voice in my head and looked at him. "Wow. I just heard you in my head," I said, jumping around. "Everyone here have telepathy and can use this to communicate when we're not in our human forms," he explained as he walked over to me and rubbed against me, his much larger frame engulfing me, licking my face, "just speak in your mind and I will hear you. As my soul mate, we have our own private telepathy path so we can communicate without anyone knowing what we're saying. We can also do this in our normal forms so if you ever have a bad feeling about a situation or anything just tell me and I will hear you." I nodded as he walked around me before nudging me. "Race you home," he chuckled. "Oh you're so on," I said and we took off running in the snow, heading home. I felt so free as we ran, the wind brushing through my fur as I quickly caught up with Baron, my laughter filling his mind as I sped up as the house came into view. "Looks like I win," I chuckled as I reached the gate. I looked behind me and he wasn't behind me. "Baron," I said, looking around. I heard him chuckling and I turned around to see him inside of the fence, wagging his tail. "How did you get in," I asked, looking around. "Jump the fence. Don't worry. I got you, baby girl," he said, a warm feeling filling me as I looked at the high fence. I shook my head, looking at him. "I can't jump that," I said, sitting down. "Here. Watch me," he said and stepped back before getting a running start and hopped over the fence. He walked over to me and rubbed his nose under my chin. "You can do it. I believe in you." I took a deep breath as I walked away from the fence and turned around. I focused on the fence and took off running towards it. "Now jump," he instructed and I listened, laying on all fours on the other side. "I did it! I did it," I said, wagging my tail and jumping around as he made his way over the fence, changing back to his normal from in mid air. "I knew you could do it," he said as I changed back. I hugged him, burying my face in his chest. He picked me up and held me close to him as he carried me to the house. He let me down once we were inside. "We're back," he announced as he helped me out of my coat. Michelle and Mark walked in, smiling at us. "Well hello, you two," Michelle said, hugging Baron then me. "You two running around the village today," Mark said, shaking Baron's hand then hugged me. "Yeah. Just giving a small little tour for her since she's staying here now," Baron said, petting me. "Oh so you're going to stay here," Mark asked and I nodded. "Yeah. After everything that's happened, there's no point in going back home," I said, smiling as Michelle looked me over. "Well that's good. I need to give you a check up, nothing too crazy. My equipment is in the basement," she said, taking my hand. "Okay. Let's do this," I said as we headed to the basement.

"You have a beautiful woman," Mark said, watching the women walk away. "Thank you. I'm very lucky to have her. But I'm sure that you're not here just to do a check up. What's up," Baron said as he and Mark went into the living room and sat down. "Well, Michelle wants to take blood from her, drain her then fill her some clean blood back into her," Mark explained. "Well shouldn't I be there with her, in case she might get scared or just needs me there," Baron said, looking towards the direction that the women had went to. "Wow. Never thought I would see the day that you worry over someone so much. She'll be fine with Michelle. Just send her some love and everything will be fine," Mark said and Baron nodded, "now I did need to talk to you about something. Have you completed the binding?" Baron shook his head slowly. "I just wanted to wait until she was completely comfortable with everything. She's still getting used to everything and all of the changes. I didn't want to...do that and scare her off," he explained. "I understand that, but if you wait too long, the darkness can return and you could be swallowed up, leaving her on her own and lost in this world until her longing for you leads to her demise." Baron sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I know. I know. Hopefully, it won't take long. Although, thanks to Kelly and Carmella saying who knows what to her, she's pretty freaked out." Mark chuckled as he looked at the ceiling with a smirk. "Probably told her what's it is like being with an Alpha. Michelle will be telling her the same thing so hopefully if she has any questions, she'll ask Michelle. Speaking of which, her mate name come to you yet?" Baron nodded. "Ayame, demon princess. Ironic, isn't it, " he chuckled. "Fitting since she will be the princess of this village. Now that you have her, you need to up security around here, especially since she's very rare and since you haven't made her completely yours yet, she's opened to attacks." Baron sighed and nodded. "I'll get some guards to watch the place and to watch over her while she's working at Carmella's store," he said and Mark nodded, "but to make her completely mine, do I do it here or somewhere else?" "There's a cave up on the mountains that's very special. Inside the cave, there's a healing spring inside that will heal your bodies if you soak in there together and help the process start. There's also a bed that forms while you're there that will have these stones in the bed frame and headboard that have powers to combine two souls into one. Just remember that while you're there, you have to call her by her mate name and she has to call you Alpha, which will be easy since she will almost be in this trance like state but don't worry, she won't be completely under your control. She will still be her own person and can still fight you. I do sense some rebellion inside of her so good luck with that," Mark chuckled. "Gee thanks," Baron chukled and looked at the basement door, worry creeping in. "Relax, son. She's in great hands. You may lose her for awhile but only until Michelle can drain the human blood out of her and pump some powerful blood into her." "Powerful?" "Well, while you were unconscious, we did take a large amount from you, just in case we started to lose her. So now, Michelle will pump that inside and the connection between you two will be stronger." "She will be okay, though, right?" Mark nodded as Baron continued to look at the door, continuing to pour his unconditional love into me.

Michelle and I went down into the basement where she had her equipment ready for me. "Alright. Just sit in that chair and relax for me," she said as she put on gloves. I sat down in the black chair as she walked up to me and rolled up my sleeve. "So any changes since the transition," she asked as she cleaned off my arm. "Well, I haven't told Baron this, but food taste so weird now. Like I can taste every single spice in something I eat now," I said as she pulled a machine next to me. "Oh don't worry. That will pass. Freaked me out too when I transitioned," she chuckled as she grabbed a needle. My eyes widened at how large the needle was as she say down on a stool and pulled up a tray. "So first, I'm going to take some blood from you to study. Then I'm going to hook some tubes to both of your arms and drain all of the blood out of your body before flooding you with new blood. Now that you're a hybrid, your human blood is just a toxin in your body and needs to be removed before you get sick." Panic began to sink in and I just wanted to run away. I was just about to move away until my body felt like it was wrapped up in warmth and my heart skipped a beat as the panic disappeared. Even though he wasn't physically here, I could still feel Baron's presence and it gave me comfort that I didn't notice that Michelle had stuck me with the needle and took my blood until I heard her say that she was done with it. "Warning you now, you might get cold, but there's nothing to worry about. You will be okay," she said as she held up the tubes. I nodded and shut my eyes as she began piercing my arms with the tubes. I took deep breathes as she taped down the tubes then turned on the machine. The tubes turned red as I could feel my body turn cold and I felt drained. "While I have you, have you two...," she trailed off, motioning with her hands. "No! Nothing happened," I said hurriedly, making her laugh. "Just asking. Surprised that it didn't by now. Usually, Alphas brute force everything and can't wait to mate. Well, Baron has been pretty different from the rest. You do understand how Alphas are, right?" I sighed, staring at the machine as it drained my blood. "All I know is that they're amazing in bed and can be extremely protective," I said as the machine beeped. Michelle pushed a few buttons and the tubes turned red again as blood began flowing inside of me. "Hmm well that's true. They can also be stubborn and hard headed, but again, Baron differs. He seems like he truly cares about you. Not saying that he doesn't care about anyone else, but you're on a different level than everyone else. I can tell that he's very protective and loving towards you. I'm just glad to finally see him happy," she said, smiling. "That's his happiness? A rare smile? He never smoked before or something," I giggled. "If he was smiling, Corey did something stupid. Other than that, he never smiled. Not until you showed up. Now he's talking more and opening up. It's about you showed up," she teased as she checked my temperature. The machine beeped again and she turned it off as the last drop of blood entered my body. "Now for the fun part," she said as she slowly removed the tubes. The holes in my arms where the tubes pierced me slowly began to close. "Woah," I said, looking at my arms. "Oh yeah. You have healing powers. Forgot to mention that. Which reminds me, I need to swab your mouth. Your saliva may have healing properties that needs to be studied as well." I nodded and opened my mouth as she stuck cotton swabs in my mouth and swabbed my mouth. "So far, everything is normal. Well normal for us anyways. Want me to give you a physical while I'm checking you over? Since you're comfortable with me, I figured that you may want me to do that as well." I sat up slowly and looked at her. "You don't mind? You're already doing so much for me," I said as she gathered up her tools. "I don't mind at all. I am a doctor after all so I can be your physician from now on," she said. I nodded and removed my shirt as she grabbed her stethoscope and placed the metal on my chest and began to check my breathing. "Can I ask a question?" "Yep. Ask me anything?" I took a deep breath as I reached back and unhooked my bra. "Um does this transition make certain body parts bigger," I said, blushing as she looked at my chest. "Oh yeah. Only panic when something start shrinking and you don't want it to shrink," she chuckled. "And my hair?". She nodded again, "which reminds me, I need some of your hair."" Go right ahead. I was going to cut it shoulder length anyways."She grabbed some scissors and started cutting. "There you go. Now for the Pap." She put away the hair that she cut off and pulled up the stirups as I put my bra and shirt back on. "You know you can just automatically remove clothes, right," she said as I wiggled out of my jeans. "How? Baron didn't tell me. I could've been so lazy," I sighed as I removed my underwear and got onto the chair and placed my legs in the stirs. Michelle placed a clothed over me as she placed the stool in front of me. "Yeah. Just like anything else, use your mind and undress and dress yourself," she explained. "Now I know," I sighed as she got ready. "You're going to feel cold metal and a lot of pressure so relax as much as possible." I nodded and took a deep breath as the door opened and shut. "How much longer...," Baron started then stopped when he saw what was going on. "Just like a guy. Doesn't knock," Michelle laughed as she inserted the speculum inside of me. I winced slightly as Baron walked over to me. "Why are you in here, anyway," I asked, looking up at him. "I felt your discomfort and wanted to check on you," he said, pushing my hair out of my face. "She's doing great. Everything is fine. I can say that everything looks okay on my end." I blushed and covered my face as Michelle laughed and removed the speculum. "All done," she said, putting everything in bags as I sat up, "I expect many kids from you two." "Michelle!" She laughed as she gathered up her tools. I focused on getting dressed, using the tips Michelle told me and pictured myself dressed and looked down to see my jeans on me. "I absolutely love this new body," I giggled as Baron smiled at me. "That's fine and all, but don't get too lazy on me." I nodded and hopped to my feet as we headed upstairs with Michelle. "How's the princess," Mark asked, smiling at me. "She's fine. Everything went well and I have plenty to take back for testing. You'll hear from me in a few days," Michelle said as she and Mark walked to the door with Baron and I as we saw them off. I stretched and leaned against him as we stood at the door. "Feel like going for a walk," he asked, putting me. "Sure," I said and pictured my coat on me as Baron walked away from me. "That's cheating," he teased as he pulled on his coat. "Feeling lazy," I said, sticking my tongue out at him as we began our walk.

The sun began to set over the horizon as Baron and I walked hand in hand. I looked up at the beautiful sky as we walked. "I love watching the sunset," I said,"The sky is so beautiful, but at night, it's breathe taking. The moonlight shining down on us while we walk." Baron smiled and squeezed my hand as we walked. "Want to stop and get a drink", I asked. Baron smiled and nodded. "Sure. We might bump into Corey and Kelly. Besides, I don't want this date to end just yet." I blushed as we headed towards a bar. As we entered, we immediately bumped into a familiar face, but it wasn't the one we wanted to see. Summer Rae glared at me before smiling at Baron. "Hey, Baron. Want to hang out? Have some fun with a real woman," she said, smirking at me. "No thanks." Summer pouted as she glared at stepped in front of me and glared at Summer. "I said no so back off." Baron grabbed me by the wrist and continued towards a table, not waiting for Summer to respond. "Baron! Over here," Corey yelled, waving at Baron and I. Baron pulled me along as we went towards the table where Corey and Kelly were sitting. I sat next to Kelly as Baron sat next to Corey. "Hey guys. Glad you're here. We ran into Summer," Baron sighed as Corey filled up shot glasses. "Again? Man, that chick doesn't give up, does she?" Baron downed his shot as he shook his head. "She's a real pain in the ass. I don't know what I'm going to do." I downed my shot and looked at Baron. "Don't worry. She will get over it. Well, she has to since I'm with you and all." Baron chuckled and looked around the room. Summer was making a beeline towards them. "Uh oh." Corey, Kelly, and I looked at the direction Baron was looking at. "I got this," Corey said as he hopped from the table and landed in front of Summer. "Summer! How are you? Wow. You look lovely tonight. New dress? It really suits you. I mean you usually look like a fat cow, but now you just look somewhat beautiful. You will never be as beautiful as my friend, Maria, but nice attempt." Summer's face turned red as she kicked Corey hard between the legs. Corey slumped to the floor as Baron, Kelly, and I laughed. "He must have called her fat again," Kelly said in between laughs. Summer made her way to the table and stared daggers into me before looking at Baron. "Why won't you have one drink with me? One drink won't kill you," Summer said. I groaned. "He doesn't want to drink with you. He want to drink with people he actually like to be around. And you are not one of them. Save yourself the embarrassment and leave him alone." Summer turned around as a waiter carrying a bottle of liquor on and tray and grabbed. "You will regret turning me down," Summer growled and smashed the bottle off the top of my head. Baron almost punched Summer until he heard me chuckling. I stood up slowly and got in front of Summer. I raised my head and stared daggers into Summer. Summer looked at me in horror as my composure had completely changed. I had a smile on my face, my fangs peeking out of my mouth. My eyes were now crimson red, almost as if I was staring through her soul. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...," Summer tried to back away, but I grabbed her wrist. "Oh you're sorry? Sorry for ruining my clothes or sorry for pestering Baron? I told you he wasn't interested. What? You don't understand English? Sluts like you make me sick. Throwing yourself on every guy you meet, begging for him to have a drink with you. You must live a boring life for you to act like a whore. If you want a man, try acting like a lady and maybe, just maybe, some guy will be dumb enough to fall for you. So stay away from me and stay the hell away from Baron. I'm trying to be nice, but you're really pissing me off. Aw what's the matter, Summer," I smirked as Summer's eyes began to fill with tears. "Now stay away from me unless you can act like a lady. Next time, I won't be so nice." I released Summer as I headed towards the bathroom. Summer quietly turned and left as Kelly followed me into the bathroom. I leaned over the sink and took out shards of glass from my scalp. Kelly walked in and stood behind me and started picking out the glass for me. "Wow. I have never seen someone tell off Summer to the point of tears." I chuckled and looked at her through the mirror. "She had to be put in her place and I was the one who just simply told her the truth." Kelly stared at me, looking at my cold heartless eyes. "Maria, are you okay?" I turned around and nodded and smiled. "Never better, but I think I want to go home. I reek of booze, my clothes are ruined, and Summer kind of ruined the fun." She stared at me. "Fine, if that's what you want." We left the bathroom and walked back over to the table where Baron and Corey were sitting. "Baron, can we go home? I'm soaked," I said, rubbing his arm and smiled innocently. He looked over at Kelly who just shrugged and sat down next to Corey. "Okay. We can go," he said and I walked to the door. "What the hell happened," Baron asked Kelly. "I don't know. It's like a switch flipped inside of her and this aggressive side came out. Do you want us to spend the night, just in case," Kelly asked. "No. I can care for her. I'll see you tomorrow morning." "See you at breakfast," Corey joked as Baron rolled his eyes and walked up to me and we left the bar.

When we were finally home, I took off my jacket and liquor soaked shirt. "This was my favorite shirt," I pouted and tossed it in the washing machine along with my bra and turned it on. "Don't worry. It will be good as new," Baron smiled and handed me a button down shirt. "Thanks," I said, slipping on the shirt and buttoned a few buttons before I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in for a deep kiss. Baron practically melted into the kiss as he bent me over the washing machine. I reached down and started to unbuckle Baron's belt. Baron pulled away and grabbed my hands. "What are you doing?" I smiled and stepped closer towards Baron. "Oh come on. I mean, we are dating after all." I attempted to kiss Baron, but he held me back. "I know but I said we will take this slow, get to know each other more." I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, but we both still have needs. I'm pretty sure you haven't been sleeping around and I have never slept with anyone so why not? Come on." I pressed my body against Baron and licked his neck slowly, drawing out shivers from him. I slowly reached down between us and pulled at Baron's belt. "Maria, let's not do this. This isn't you." I licked my lips. "Your mouth says no, but your body," I whispered as I rubbed Baron's erection through his jeans," says yes." Baron grabbed my hand, stopping me from going any further. "Look, we're not doing this until you're actually yourself. Go take a shower. You need to sleep all of this off." Baron let me go and walked away. I whined as I headed towards the bathroom. I stripped down and turned on the shower, stepping inside. I sighed and felt my body grow heavy. I shook my head as I cleaned myself up and got out of the shower. My body felt like lead as I dried off and changed into a shirt and shorts as I left the bathroom and headed towards Baron's room. My mind was getting fuzzy as I slowly entered the room to find Baron already in bed. I got into bed and climbed on top of Baron and quickly fell asleep.


	9. First Day of Work

Baron opened his eyes and looked over to see me sleeping peacefully next to him. The events from last night replayed in his mind as he sat up and stared at me. He placed his hand on my head and ran his fingers through my soft black hair. I nuzzled into his touch and opened my eyes, smiling at him. "Good morning," I mumbled as I rolled onto my side. Baron smiled and ruffled my hair. "Good morning. Sleep good?" He studied me as I stretched next to him, laying my head on his thigh. "Yeah. Don't remember what happened last night, though." Baron raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember?" I shook my head. "Last thing I remember was Summer grabbing a bottle and hitting me with it." Baron stared at me for awhile before speaking. "You don't remember telling Summer off or how you practically threw yourself on me when we got home?" I sat up and looked at Baron. "No. Did I really do all of that?" Baron nodded slowly as I placed my hands on my head. "I don't remember anything. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do it." Baron pulled me into his arms. "It's okay. I had a feeling that you wasn't being yourself last night after Summer hit you. Don't worry. Nothing happened." Baron kissed my forehead softly and smiled. "Come on, let's go eat. Corey and Kelly are probably waiting for us." "Will we ever have a peaceful breakfast alone," I giggled. "Maybe one day," he laughed as we got out of bed and got dressed. I kept trying to dig through my mind to find the missing memory from last night to no avail. I sighed as I put on a long sleeved shirt and joggers before I walked out of the room with Baron following behind me. Baron looked at me as we walked to the kitchen. "Don't worry, baby. We'll figure out what's going on with you." I looked at Baron and smiled as we reached the kitchen where everyone was waiting. Corey and Jamie were arguing while Kelly sat back and laughed. Baron sighed as he sat next to Kelly. "What are they arguing about now?" Kelly chuckled before responding, "Who would win in a street fight: AJ or Chris? Corey says AJ and Jaime said Chris. I got bored waiting on you two so I decided to entertain myself." Baron rubbed his temples as I laughed. "Chris is the veteran so of course he would beat that scrawny youngster," Jamie said with confidence. "Sorry, old man, but us youngsters can actually move without help from a cane unlike you," Corey said with a smirk. "Who the hell are you calling old man?" Baron shook his head and groaned. "That's enough. It's way too early to listen to you two bicker like children." Corey and Jamie went silent and looked at Baron. "Sorry," they mumbled in unison. Jamie fixed everyone a plate so we could enjoy a nice breakfast together. "Now let me ask you something," Baron said in between bites, "Maria lost some time last night. She doesn't remember what happened after Summer hit her with that bottle." Corey chuckled and looked at me. "Man, last night you ripped Summer a new one. I swear, it looked like she wanted to cry. I have never seen someone tell her off like that before." I looked down in silence. "Not helping, Corey," Baron said, ruffling my hair. "Hm, maybe the blow to the head triggered something inside of her," Kelly suggested, "We still don't know all of her abilities so that might be a new one. Or maybe she's pure evil and doesn't want to show us that side." I chuckled softly as everyone looked at me. "What? It's funny. I'm an angel, I swear," I said with a smirk. "Anyone who brings Summer close to tears is an angel in my book," Kelly chuckled. "I had to stand up to the blonde bimbo, especially after she kicked Corey. I know that everyone wants to protect me, but I'm tough too," I said. Baron smiled and petted my head. "I understand that you want to be tough, but you don't have to. Everyone will watch over you now. No worries," he said. "Yeah. We got your back, girl, don't even worry," Kelly said, smiling. I nodded as I sipped on my coffee, frowning before setting the cup down. "Too strong," Jamie asked and I shook my head, "still trying to get used to your new taste buds?" I nodded and rested my head on the table. "Are you okay," Baron asked, putting his hand on my back. "Yeah. I'm fine," I sighed as I got up and left the kitchen, going into the living room and grabbed my coat. "Where are you going," Baron asked as he walked in. "Gonna go to work today. Can't laze around at home all day," I said as I pulled on my coat. "I'll take you," he said, walking up to me as I stood at the door. "I'm a big girl, baby. I can go to work by myself," I chuckled as he grabbed my hand. "I'm taking you. Don't need someone coming up to you or anything." I raised an eyebrow and shook him off. "I'm going by myself!" He glanced down at me and a low rumble came from him as his jaw clenched and he grabbed my arm, squeezing gently. "I'm taking you. End of discussion," he growled. I flashed an innocent smile and stared at him. "Okay, Baron. I'm sorry." He raised an eyebrow and let go of my arm. "Good. Let me grab my coat and get the keys and we can go." I nodded as he turned around and saw Kelly, Corey, and Jamie standing there. "Everything okay," Kelly asked looking at me. "Yeah. I'm going to take her to Carmella's store and will be right back," Baron answered as he pulled on his coat and walked to the table where his keys were at. As soon as there was enough distance between us, I winked at Kelly before opening the door and ran out. "What the fuck," Baron said as the others started laughing. I jumped and took on the form of a raven as I heard Baron yell at me as I flew away from the house. Baron sighed and put his hand on his head as Jamie patted him. "You know, boss. I think I figured out the problem," he said, making Baron look at him, "she's a rebellious you in female form." Kelly and Corey burst into laughter as Baron glared at Jamie. "No wonder Mark told me good luck," he sighed. "Yeah. You definitely have your hands full with her now. Maybe having your blood flowing through her doesn't help," Kelly chuckled, "don't worry. Carmella hired me too so she will be fine." "Good. Do me a favor. Tell Car to keep her as busy as possible. I want to do something special for her,"Baron said as she changed forms and flew off. "Not fun being with such a wild and free spirit, isn't it," Corey teased. "Shut up. We have something to do. We have to go on a search," Baron said. "Such for what?" "Her stolen stuff. I have her scent so this should be easy. Jamie, watch the house for me. We will be back. Let's go, Corey." Jamie nodded as Baron and Corey took off.

I landed in front of the store and changed back into my human form before walking inside. "Carmella," I called out to her as I walked in. "Hey, girl. Ready to work," she said, smiling at me. Before I could reply, Kelly walked in and put an arm around me. "Ready for work," she said, pulling me along as we walked to the back. "Great. First, Maria, you're on model duty for the day. I designed some new clothes and need you to show them off. Kelly and I will take turns making any needed adjustments and take pictures for the website," Carmella said as she gathered up clothes and gave them to Kelly. I nodded as Kelly followed me to the dressing room and I pulled off my clothes. "First, this dress," Kelly said, passing me a black, back less dress with a deep V neck and a long split on the side. I slipped into it and straightened up before stepping out. "Wow," she said as I turned around, "that dress was so made for you. It shows off those tattoos nicely too, especially the dragon on your back. Come on, let's take pictures." I nodded as we walked to where Carmella had the camera and a backdrop set up. "You look fabulous, girl," Carmella said as she grabbed the camera, "I have some heels over there to go with that dress." I walked over to the pair of black heels and put them on before standing in front of the white screen as Kelly grabbed another camera to take pictures from a different angle. I smiled and posed as they began taking pictures. "I can't believe this is happening to me," I giggled as they set down their cameras, "one day, I'm just travelling the world and now I'm living with this incredible man and a great job. Life is so crazy." "Not to mention that you have incredible new friends who will always have your back," Carmella added and Kelly nodded, "Besides, you're a princess now. You get all of the benefits in the world." I raised an eyebrow as I took off my heels. "What are you talking about? I'm not a princess," I laughed off as I returned to the dressing room and changed into a red and blue body suit that hugged my curves nicely. I stepped out and walked back over to Kelly and Carmella who were giving each other strange looks. "What?" Carmella looked at Kelly who sighed. "Baron didn't tell you everything, which isn't anything new since he doesn't like to open up to people. He's actually the Prince of this village and since you're his soul mate..." My eyes widened as I looked at them. "I'm the princess of this village?" She nodded as I put on a pair of boots. "Well, not right now. You two will have to get married first before you can get the title, but still. You're a future princess and need to be protected, which is why he wanted to bring you here. I mean, you two haven't like sealed the deal, right?" I blushed and shook my head. "Even though you're half way bound to him, other Alphas will still try to come after you and even though your mind says Baron, your body can betray you." "Yeah, especially during the blood moon and heat cycles," Carmella said. "Blood moon," I asked as I fixed my hair. "That's the best... I mean worst night ever. The moon turns red and all of the Alphas will try to mate," Carmella chuckled. "They don't try. They will. They can't help it. Alphas want children and blood moon and our heart cycles are the only chance they have to impregnate us," Kelly said. "Wait! But everyone's been telling me how aggressive Baron is and how he's never smiled until I got here," I said feeling overwhelmed. "It's true. He's aggressive in nature so your sex life will be amazing," Carmella said bluntly. "Not helping," I chuckled as they began taking pictures. "Well look on the bright side. You will never be dissatisfied in bed so that's a plus. You might not be able to walk straight for a while, but that's fine," Kelly joked and I glared at her. "Anyways, less of that, let's get to work. We have a busy day today," Carmella said as we finally got down to business and finished with the photoshoot as quickly as possible before we opened and got really busy with a huge sale for the day.

After work, we went out to eat late into the evening. I tried to contact Baron during the work day telepathically, but I couldn't reach him. Loneliness began to fill me and I longed for him as I stared at my food. "Earth to Maria," Kelly said, poking me. "Huh? What," I said, shaking my head. "Are you okay?" I smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Just thinking about today. It was really fun. I've never modeled before in my life." "Well, you're a natural, girl," Carmella giggled. "Thanks. This job is way better than my old one. So glad that I don't have to go back to that job," I said, drinking my drink. "What about your old life? Won't you miss that," Kelly asked. I set down my glass and sighed. "Honestly? No. I'm actually glad to be here. I don't have any friends in Texas. My parents have passed so I have no one. It's just me," I said. "Wow. Baron doesn't have anyone either," Kelly said which made me raise my eyebrow, "Baron is an only child and his parents were killed years ago. Mark and Michelle raised him and since they didn't have any children who would do it, Mark made Baron Prince of this village." "Really? So he had it rough, huh," I asked in between bites. "Yeah. I met him in college and we became friends. Then a few years later, he went to get a tattoo and that's how he met Corey and they've been friends ever since. He was Corey's best man at our wedding," Kelly chuckled. I sighed, smiling at the thought of Baron in a suit at a wedding. My mind soon wondered to us standing at the alter, filled with love for one another as we commit to each other. "I bet right now she's thinking about their wedding day," Carmella whispered to Kelly. "Big time," Kelly agreed. "Shut up." They laughed at me as we finished up our dinner. Kelly and I said our goodbyes to Carmella before we changed into birds and flew home. "You're getting better at shape shifting," she said as we changed back once we landed. "Thanks. It's starting to become second nature to me," I said as I opened the door and we walked inside. Jamie walked in, smiling at us. "Welcome back. Had a great first day," he asked. "Yeah. I modeled some new clothes that we will sell soon and it was a very busy day, but I got to meet people," I said as I took off my coat. "Where's our other halves at," Kelly asked. "They went out earlier today and haven't returned yet so you might want to spend the night here," Jamie said, looking at Kelly, "Boss doesn't want Maria alone." I rolled my eyes and sighed. "I can take care of myself." Jamie patted my shoulder. "We know, but the boss wants to just keep you safe. I'm leaving for the day and will be back in the morning." I nodded and walked him to the door. "Thanks for everything, Jamie. See you tomorrow." "Good night, ladies," he waved before walking out the door. "Well, guess I'm staying here tonight. I'll take my usual room. Sometimes we get too drunk to go home so we crash here. I have clothes still here. Corey too," she giggled as we went upstairs. "What are those two up to? I've been trying to reach Baron all day and he hasn't contacted me once," I said, sadness in my eyes. "He'll be back. That's just the loneliness of not having him near you. He'll smothered you when he returns. Just try to get some sleep." She gave me a hug before going into the guest bedroom, "you know how to reach me if you need me. Goodnight." She shut the door and I walked into Baron's room and shut the door. I smiled when I saw a wolf laying in bed. "Thanks for keeping me company," I said, petting it then walked into the shower. I took a shower and got dressed for bed, putting on one of his shirts before climbing into bed. I petted the wolf again as I tried to sleep. The bed shifted as the wolf moved closer to me and rubbed its nose against my cheek. I petted it lazily and rolled over when it started licking my face. The wolf kept nudging me and I pushed it away gently. "I don't want to play," I mumbled as it kept nudging me. "Stop. Get off the bed." I felt the wolf jump off of the bed and sighed as I finally tried to get some sleep. The bed dipped again and my body felt heavy. I felt something rub against my face and I reached up to feel something soft and fuzzy. I sighed, thinking it was the wolf and pushed back gently. "I said that I don't want to play." "Aw. You don't want to play with me?" My eyes snapped open and I saw Bray Wyatt hovering over me. Before I could open my mouth to scream, he covered my mouth with his hand, smirking with me as I started to feel my energy slowly drain. "Relax, darling. You will be sleeping soon enough," he chuckled as my vision blurred and I soon drifted to sleep. "I'll take good care of you" was the last thing I heard before I lost consciousness.


	10. The Kidnapping

"Rise and shine, princess," a deep voice said to me as something tapped my cheek. I slowly opened my eyes as Bray stood in front of me. I attempted to swing at him, but couldn't move my arms. I looked up and saw the shackles that kept my arms secured to the wall that he had me chained to. "I see that you still have some fight in you," he chuckled as he stroked my cheek. I moved away from his touch and glared at him. "Relax, princess. I won't hurt you. Well, not too badly anyways. I just thought that you could use some company since Baron abandoned you." "Fuck you. He would never do that," I spat, making him laugh. "Oh really? Then why wasn't he with you while you were so lonely? Why did he leave you to sleep alone? He doesn't care about you." I rolled my eyes. "Right. Let me guess, you do? This is worse than a movie. Get me out of these shackles now," I snapped. He shrugged and walked up to me and removed the shackles from my wrists and ankles. I slid down onto the floor and rubbed my wrists as I looked up at him. "Thanks...," I said slowly as he chuckled. "Don't need my princess uncomfortable," he chuckled as he clapped his hands and lights came on. We were standing in some type of dungeon with no other sign of life around. My eyes widened when I saw a bed in the middle of the room and swallowed hard. He grabbed my arm and pulled me up to my feet before heading towards the direction where the bed was located. "No," I said, pulling my arm away from him before scrambling to my feet and began to run. "Now where do you think you're going," he chuckled as he appeared in front of me and I crashed into him. I fell onto the floor and began to push myself away from him until he grabbed my ankle. "Don't touch me," I growled and kicked him in the face. Anger was written on his face as he glared at me. "No. I'm sorry," I said, pushing myself away, but he grabbed me and picked me up. "See, I was going to be nice, but then you kicked me," he growled as he walked over to the bed and threw me on it. My heart races as he stood in front of me, his hands going into his pockets before pulling out a syringe. "From my understanding, you're a hybrid, completely different and rare breed," he said as he grabbed my ankle, "which means that I have to make you mine. Together, we will have everyone on their knees." I reached out and smacked the syringe out of his hand. "Now darling, why must you keep fighting me," he chuckled, "that mutt has poisoned your brain." I growled and slapped him across the face. "Don't you dare bad mouth Baron, you jerk." He laughed as he grabbed me by my throat and pulled me up, tapping my temple. "Your brain has been corrupted by the lies that they've fed you. I must cleanse your mind, body, and soul of the lies so you can see the truth of this cold, cold world." I clawed at his wrist before he tossed me on the floor. I tumbled onto the floor and tried to stand back up until he walked over to me and kicked me in the ribs. I grabbed my side as I laid on the ground, Bray standing over me. "We could've done this the easy way, but you just have to fight me, don't you," he chuckled. He reached down and grabbed my throat again, squeezing as he sat on top of me. I threw punch after lunch trying to get him off of me, but my strength began to drain. He chuckled as he watched me struggle under him. "I've always had love for the feisty ones," he chuckled as he grabbed my shirt and ripped it down the middle, exposing my chest. "Don't touch me," I choked out, scratching up his arm until blood came out. He laughed and slapped me across the face, shutting me up as he released my throat and pinned down my wrists with one hand. "Where is he, hmm," he asked as he slid his hand down my body slowly, "I don't see him anywhere. If he cares about you so much, why isn't he here?" He laughed as tears began to run down my cheeks and I struggled to get free. He chuckled softly as he pressed his lips against my neck, licking at the mark that Baron had left on me, claiming me as his and only his. I whimpered as he looked down at me, a sick smile on his face. "What's the matter? Don't have any fight left? Come on, beautiful. Fight me. Scream for him to come to your rescue. Well, since you're waiting for him to not show up, I think I'll enjoy you while I can." I began to scream and shut my eyes, not wanting to see what's about to happen as I silently prayed for Baron to come to my rescue.

Just then, there was a loud bang and Bray was no longer on me as I felt my body being lifted into strong arms. I opened my eyes to see Baron holding me close to him as he glared at Bray who was hunched over on the floor, coughing up blood. Baron looked down at me, anger clouding his eyes as he pulled off his jacket and put it over me before setting me down. I hugged the jacket close to me as Baron walked over to Bray and pulled him up by his beard. "She is mine. Don't you ever put your disgusting hands on her ever again," Baron growled and punched Bray in the jaw, a loud cracking sound bouncing off the walls as Bray slumped to the floor. Baron turned and walked up to me and reached out to me. I slowly reached out to grab his hand and he pulled me to my feet. "Are you okay," he asked, looking me over. I nodded silently and wrapped my arms around him, my body shaking. "It's okay. I'm here. Im here," he whispered, rubbing my back. I looked over to Bray and saw that he wasn't where he was laying. There was a yell and I saw him charging for us. "Baron," I yelled and shoved him away as Bray slammed into me and we fell to the ground as pain engulfed my body. I felt something running down my chest and arms as I laid on the floor. Breathing was difficult and my body was heavy as Bray got off of me. I looked down and saw blood covering my chest and stomach. I slowly moved my hand towards my chest and could feel my bone and my fingers were covered in my blood as I gasped for air. "Maria!" Baron growled and charged at Bray, sending him flying into the wall. I closed my eyes as another wave of pain swept over me. I placed my hands over the hole in my chest and pressed down, wincing as the pain increased. "You have the ability to self heal" flashed in my mind from what Michelle had told me as I concentrated on closing the wound. I could hear Bray and Baron fighting, yelling and the sound of things breaking as the battle continued. I took deep breaths and focused as my hands grew warm and the pain slowly began to go away. I could feel the wound close and breathing became easier. I opened my eyes and sat up, checking for anymore injuries. As I checked myself, I saw Bray's bloody body fly over me. I looked over at Baron who was also covered in blood heading over to Bray. "Baron," I called out to him, but he kept heading towards Bray. I scrambled to my feet and ran up to him, throwing myself on him. "Baron, stop! Please," I begged, making him stop in his tracks. He turned around and looked at me as I jumped off of him. "You're okay," he said, looking at me. "Yeah. Please stop fighting. I want to go home. Please, can we go home," I sobbed, burying my face in his chest. He put his hand on my head and picked me up. "Okay, princess. We can go. Just please stop crying. Please don't cry anymore," he said as he turned and sprinted out of the door. "Keep your eyes shut and keep a tight grip on me." I nodded and buried my face in the crook of his neck as he took off in lightening speed. The sounds of groans and screaming filled my ears, but I didn't look as Baron kept his stride. The sounds went away and a gush of cold air hit me, making me shiver as the sound of crunching snow filled my ears. "Don't worry, princess. We'll be home soon. It's going to be okay," he whispered before taking off again. "I just want to go home. I just want to stay with you. Please don't leave me," I said as I tightened my grip. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise," he said telepathically. "How did you find me anyway?" "Followed your scent when I returned home yesterday and Kelly was panicking." "Yesterday," I pulled away from him slightly to look in his face, "How long was I gone?" I felt us drop from the air and land safely as Baron carried me inside of our room. "About a day. Kelly went to check on you and the room was empty. First she thought that you've probably left to go to the store but Carmella hasn't heard from you and she knew that you wouldn't be anywhere else so she got in touch with Corey and we came back as fast as we could," he explained as he opened the front door. "Did you find her? Is she okay," Kelly immediately asked once he walked inside. He set me down and Kelly ran up to me and hugged me. "I'm so sorry. I should've stayed with you. I didn't mean," she sobbed, hugging me. "I'm okay. It's okay. You didn't know that this would happen," I said calmly hugging her back. She released me and looked me over. She touched my neck, staring at it before I pulled away. "I'm going upstairs," I said quietly before walking upstairs to our bedroom. "Baron, I'm sorry," Kelly said, but he shook his head. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have left her like this." Corey walked in and looked at Baron. "Will she be okay?" Baron shrugged, looking at the stairs. "Maybe. I'm not going to leave her though. You two go home. I'll take care of her," he said. Corey nodded and put an arm around Kelly as they walked out of the house. Baron sighed as he locked the doors then headed up the stairs.

I walked into our bedroom slowly, looking around until my eyes settled on familiar bags that were on the bed. I walked over to them and opened one of them, smiling when I saw my clothes that were stolen from me. I slid off Baron's jacket and removed the rags of what was left of Baron's shirt before putting on a familiar black shirt that I owned and looked at my reflection. The smile disappeared when I saw the marks from Bray's hand around my throat. I pulled off my shirt and saw bruises on my arms and chest. I took a deep breath as I took off my pants and underwear and walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower and got in. I began scrubbing my body, wanting the feeling of his touch to just disappear. I kept thinking about how my once perfect skin was now ruined with ugly bruises and my anger began to take over and my skin began to hurt from how hard I was scrubbing. I put down the soap and looked down at myself. The bruises were gone, but the emotional scars remained. I finished up my shower and got out, wrapping a towel around me before walking out. I almost screamed when I saw Baron sitting on the edge of the bed. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," he said as I shook my head. "It's fine. Just jumpy, I guess. They left?" He nodded as I walked up to him and grabbed his hand. "Thank you for saving me." He pulled me into his lap and kissed my cheek. "You're my soul mate. I'll protect you with my life," he said, giving my hand a squeeze, "I just wish I had stayed here. None of this would've happened." I hugged him. "It's fine. You left to go find my stuff. I can't thank you enough. Although," I sighed, looking at my bags, "some of those I can't fit anymore since I got umm thicker." "You're still beautiful since the first day we met." He pressed his lips to mine in a very heated, passionate kiss. I adjusted myself in his lap as my legs wrapped around his waist and my arms wrapped around his neck. The towel loosens and slipped off of my body as the kiss deepened. His hands roamed my body before resting on my hips. My body got hot and was screaming for Baron to be inside of me. He sighed and pulled away from me, licking his lips. "Sorry," he mumbled, kissing my cheek. "Why?" "We can't. At least not here and not until you're ready for what will happen." I sighed and got off of his lap. "If I wasn't ready, I wouldn't have kissed you. Michelle already told me what to expect. So did Kelly and Carmella," I said as I got dressed. "And you're not scared out of your mind," he asked, eyebrow raised. "Why would I be scared? I love you. I want to be with you. I'm pretty sure I made that very clear," I chuckled. "I don't know. I just remember hearing other guys talk about how they scared their women at first and just didn't want to scare you off." I folded my arms and looked at him. "I don't scare that easily. I think I can handle sex with you." He smirked and stood up, towering over me. "So are you telling me that you're prepared for what's going to happen? If so, there's a place I want to take you. Somewhere special for our first time." I grabbed his hands and looked up at him, giving him a serious look. "I'm ready."


	11. Total Commitment

He placed his hand on my cheek and rubbed it with his thumb slowly as he stared at me. "Let's get out of here," he said, grabbing my hand as we walked out of the bedroom and went downstairs. I pulled on my coat and watched him as he grabbed a black bag and put it over his shoulder. "Turn into a wolf and then you will follow me, got it," he asked, looking at me. I nodded and shifted to my wolf firm as he opened the door. We walked out and he locked the door behind us before he changed into his wolf form and nuzzled up to me before he took off running. I chased after him as we hopped the fence and ran through the woods. "Where are we going anyway," I asked as I quickly caught up to him. His chuckles filled my mind as we hopped over a few logs. "There's a special place that our people go to with our soulmate that I think you will enjoy. It's up on the mountains. You'll love the sight," he said as we began scaling the mountainside. The air felt great against my body and the happiness that I felt returned as I ran next to my love. We reached a ledge and Baron changed back into his human self as he turned to me. I changed back and looked around and the beautiful sight. "Wow. Everything looks amazing," I said, looking down at the village, "wow. I didn't know the village was this big." He chuckled and pulled me towards his body to keep me warm. "Yeah. We should just go for a ride around the village one day so you can see everything," he said then turned me towards him, "but now, we have something more important things to do." He took my hand and lead me inside the cave. My eyes widened at the sight of large blue crystals that covered the walls as we walked deeper into the cave. My eyes jumped from wall to wall as we walked into a section of the cave that had a waterfall inside and small springs. "The crystals give off healing energy and the spring can help with sore muscles and any external problems," he explained before he released my hand and walked off as I walked towards a spring. I squatted down and placed my hand in it and sighed at how warm it was when I heard a loud rumbling and stood up. I turned around to see Baron standing in front of something before he tossed the black bag down in front of him along with his jacket before turning around and walking over to me. He pulled me towards him and pressed his lips to mine as he picked me up and pressed me close to his body. "Well? What do you think," he smirked, looking at me. "This place is so beautiful," I said as he set me down. "How about we take a dip in the spring," he smirked and I nodded. He pulled me up and into a kiss as I felt my clothes leave my body and I was soon skin to skin with Baron as he stepped into the spring and lowered us down into it. I sighed as my body relaxed in the warm water as I rested on him. "Feeling better," he chuckled as I nodded, resting my head on his chest. "I've never been in a hot spring my entire life and this is just amazing. It's more amazing since I'm with you in such a beautiful cave," I confessed and turned around to face him. He smiled at me and stroked my cheek before kissing me, pushing his tongue into my mouth and battled mine for dominance. He growled against my mouth as he tilted my head to the side and licked a line across my throat slowly. I couldn't stop the moan that escaped me as he pressed my back against the edge of the spring, his rough tongue slid against my skin as he held me in place by my shoulders. My body began to tingle and a warm feeling pooled my stomach as my mind began to cloud with lust and need for Baron. His lips closed around the mark that he placed on me as he sucked painfully hard. Something began to stir inside of me as he pressed his body into mine. My body longed for him and this feeling was driving me insane as I squirmed against him. He released my neck with a loud pop as he pant in my ear, licking the shell of it slowly. "Ayame," he whispered to me and my mind went fuzzy as he stared at me. A smile came to his face as he licked his lips. "Hold on to me, Ayame." I obediently wrapped my arms around his neck and held on as he pulled us out of the spring and walked away from it. My eyes never left his as a gust of hot air danced around us and dried our wet bodies before he climbed into a bed. The bed was big enough for us and the headboard had the same blue crystals that were in the cave and the mattress was soft like cotton as my body sunk down into it.

He pulled my legs apart and carefully sunk down on top of me, his hands on either sides of my head as he kissed me. I could feel his erection pressing against my stomach as he tugged my bottom lip gently. "Ayame," he whispered again and my body responded on its own accord as I wrapped my legs around his waist. "I swear that I will make you happy, my princess," he whispered into my ear before kissing my cheek then pressed his lips to my ear, "I'll treat you like the princess that you are. I'll satisfy your mind, body, and soul. You belong to me and I belong to you." My body grew hotter at his words as my sense heightened and my teeth sharpened as Baron's sweet words swept through me like a spell, as if he was putting me into a trance. "Give yourself to me. Give me every part of you. Your mind. Your body. Your soul. Give it all to me, Ayame. Will you give yourself to me? Give your life to me? Will you make me whole again? What do you want, Ayame?" He lifted his hips slightly and pressed the tip of his dick to my entrance. "Tell me what your heart says. Once I start, I won't be able to stop and I will not be gentle. Now is the time to back out." My heart skipped a beat at his words and I knew exactly what I wanted, what I needed in my life to make me happy. "I want you. I want my Alpha," I said, my eyes widen and my mouth fell open as he slammed into me. He didn't give me any time to adjust to his size as he pounded into me. The air around us changed as did the crystals as we were engulfed in red as the crystals in the cave and in the headboard turned red as my screams of pleasure filled the cave. Baron growled and leaned down, capturing my lips to swallow my screams as our bodies melted together as he dominated me. I bit down on his bottom lip, drawing blood as I ran my tongue across it. "Who do you belong to," he growled as he squeezed my thigh. "You! I belong to you, Alpha," I cried out as I clawed at his chest. He groaned and grabbed my jaw, opening my mouth slightly to show my teeth. "I need you to bite me, Ayame," he whispered as he kissed my neck, "bite my neck and take what's yours. Mark me as yours. Sink those teeth into me." He snapped his hips hard into me and I leaned in and bit down hard into his neck, his blood pouring into my mouth. "That's it, Ayame. Drink my blood," he groaned before sinking his teeth into my neck. The room began to spin as my body became swept up in the pleasure as he licked my neck, pulling me off of his neck and rejoin our lips as our blood mixed together in our mouths before he sat up and pulled my legs from around his waist and pinned them down to the mattress, his fingers digging into my thighs as he thrust harder into me, each powerful thrust pushing me deeper into the mattress as my body screamed for release. My body felt like it was on fire, every muscle feeling as if they're being ripped to shreds. He pulled me towards him with each hard slam as he let out a loud growl. "Alpha," I cried out as I reached out for him. He let go of my legs and leaned down for me so I could reach him and pull him down for a sloppy kiss. "My one true love. My only princess. My Ayame," he groaned in my ear, "the only one I will ever want. I would die for you. You're my life. My future queen. My future wife. My everything. I want to start a family with you. I want to give you the world." Each sweet word was followed by a hard thrust as he licked my neck. He grabbed my hips and pulled me up as he got into a sitting position and moved me up and down his hard member. I grabbed his shoulders as leverage as I took over, my head lulling back as he placed his hands on my back and pushed my chest towards him as he captured one of my nipples in his mouth and he sucked hard on it. "Alpha!" I sped up my movements as he moved on to the other nipple, his teeth scraping my skin as he growled. I could feel myself tense and tighten around him as I became lost in the pleasure. "Not yet, Ayame," he groaned and I let out a soft whine as he pulled me off of him and placed me on all fours before positioning himself behind me. He spread my ass and immediately slammed into me, grabbing my hips as he began pounding into me. I whimpered and clawed at the mattress as his hips spanked me. He grabbed my hair and pulled me up as he sunk his teeth into my neck once more. I cried out as my blood ran down my chest. He used one hand to collect some of the blood on his fingers and put them in my mouth and I sucked them clean as he released my neck and pulled out of me once more before laying down. "On top," he commanded and I obliged, gingerly climbing on top of him and straddled his hips. He held my hip with one hand as he aimed his member to my entrance as I slowly sunk down on him. I lifted my hips and dropped back down on it before I found a rhythm and moaned as I bounced on top of him. He growled and drug his nail across his chest, breaking the skin and blood came out. I licked my lips and leaned down and collected his blood with my tongue as he placed a hand on the back of my head as he growled. He pulled me up by my hair and devoured my lips as he began thrusting up into me and massaged my butt as I whimpered against his lips. "Alpha," I whimpered as we locked eyes. He rolled us over and slammed into me as his hard member began to throb. "You're my Ayame and I am your Alpha. We are one. We share one soul. We will always be together. Nothing will ever come between us. I will always have you and you will always have me. We are one in the same. Part of me is now part of you. Part of you is now part of me. Do you understand me? Are you willing to commit to me? Commit to taking your role as my soulmate and my princess?" I nodded vigorously as I started to become undone. The crystals began to flicker at the height of our passion as our bodies became engulfed in their light. "I'm ready to commit to my Alpha. Make me yours, Alpha. I only want to belong to you. I only want you to belong to me," I panted as he kissed me, swallowing my cries. "Come with me, my beautiful Ayame. Come with me," he groaned as the crystals shone brightly as we reached a state of pure bliss. Baron collapsed on top of me, both of us trying to catch our breaths as the crystals changed back to blue. He nuzzled into my neck and sighed as we fell asleep surrounded by the beautiful crystals and a waterfall.


	12. Complete Transition

"Maria... Maria..." I let out a soft whine as I buried my face into the pillow. "Come on, Maria. We have to go. We can't stay here. We have to go back home," Baron whispered as he gently shook me. I whined again and moved away from him as he sighed. "Fine. Have it your way." I felt his hands on my hips as he pulled himself to him, turning me to face him, his hand under my chin and tilted my head. I felt his tongue on my cheek as he began to lick me. I whined and attempted to move, but he had me trapped as he continued to lick my face. "Stop," I whined opening my eyes and stared at his chest. "Get up then," he smirked. "No. I'm tired," I sighed and nuzzled into his chest, "everything on me is sore. Can I just stay in bed? With you?" He chuckled as he petted me. "As much as I would love that, we need to get back home. Especially before the others get there because they will already know where we've been all night once we walk through the front door." I sat up slowly and rubbed my sore muscles as his fingers traveled up my back. "That tickles," I giggled and looked back at him. He raised an eyebrow as he sat up and cupped my face.

"What's wrong," I asked as he stared at me. "Your eyes. They've changed," he said. "Well that's nothing new," I giggled as I closed my eyes and opened them again. "They didn't change." "Huh," I said and tried again. "This is permanent. Your eyes are now black. Beautiful," he whispered as he tilted my head to the side, "my mark is gone." He frowned and pulled the covers off of me. "What are you doing," I yelled, blushing as he pushed me back down and hovered over me, his eyes scanning my body. "Don't get shy on me now," he smirked at me, "after last night, I can look at your beautiful naked body all I want. Right now, I'm doing a full search." He grabbed my breast and fondled them before releasing them. "What are you searching for," I gasped as his large hands slid down my sides until they rested on my hips. "Every soulmate have matching marks. I need to see where your mark is," he said, smiling. I looked at him and yelped as he spread my legs and scanned my thighs. "This isn't appropriate!" He smirked and released my legs as he leaned in and kissed me before dragging his tongue up my cheek slowly. "Stop licking me," I giggled as he wrapped his arms around me. "You're my little wolf cub. I'm cleaning you off," he chuckled as I squirmed under him, trying to get free. "No licking," I whined as he pulled away slightly. "Make up your mind. Either I search for your mark or I lick you." I turned over under him and buried my face back into the pillow. "Hmm is this an invitation," he chuckled in my ear as he massaged my hips. "No. I can't take anymore. I just want to sleep," I whined. He sat up and ran his fingers down my back until he stopped in the middle of it. "Oh here's my mark. It's a large wolf paw print in a circle above the right hand of the dragon," he said as he bent down and pressed his lips to my back before kissing up my spine. "Noo. Down, boy," I smirked as he chuckled against my shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll wait until tonight when we're in our own bed and I can break it while fucking you through the mattress." I blushed and looked at him as he rolled over to the side of me. "Don't tease," I winked before sitting up and carefully stood up, stretching as I looked down at my body, "are you serious?" "What's wrong?" I turned to him and grabbed my chest. "They got bigger. I was a B cup and now I'm at least a D cup now. Also I'm more curvy," I said, motioning to my hips and thighs. He shrugged as I walked away towards the spring. "Still beautiful to me." I rolled my eyes as I dropped into the spring, rising back up as I felt the soreness disappear. I hummed to myself as I heard a splash behind me as the memories of last night's events played through my mind. "Your face is red again," Baron said, pulling me from my thoughts and I looked at him. "Oh umm guess I'm getting hot or something," I lied. He pressed his forehead against mine and stared into my eyes. "Well you don't have a fever. Well, you can't stay in here for too long. I know that you want to just heal yourself, but we can't stay in here. Or in this cave. We need to head home. We might make it in time before everyone shows up." I nodded as he helped me out of the water and walked back over to the bed. He set me down and grabbed the black bag that he brought and dumped out some clothes and towels. "Wow you're always prepared," I giggled as I dried off. "Well, I just figured that we would need more clothes so we don't look so suspicious, just in case," he said as he pulled on his boxers then jeans. "Just in case we get caught," I smirked as I got dressed then pulled on my boots.

"Well... Yeah. I think we're safe though. Hopefully," he said as he tossed our clothes in the bag and put it over his shoulder. "I hope so. Otherwise, I'm blaming you," I teased as he rolled his eyes. "I'm starting to see my attitude slipping into you too and I don't know how I'm going to handle it," he sighed as I giggled. "Don't know but that's your problem." He petted my head before holding out his hand in front of him. The bed shook and slowly began to sink into the ground until it was completely gone. "Now for one last thing," he said, digging into his pocket until he pulled out a small vial. He removed the top and shook it, a small red sphere landing in his hand as he held it out to me. "Swallow this." I raised an eyebrow as I took the sphere from him. He shook the vial again and another sphere came out of it. "What is it," I asked as he held his to his mouth. "Last step to binding is together. That is my blood in pill form that you have and this is yours that I have. That way no matter what, we can feel each other's presence no matter how far we are from each other. That's why you couldn't reach me. I was too far away from you, but that's about to change." He tilted his head back and dropped the pill in his mouth and swallowed before looking at me. I hesitated at first but I knew that he would never hurt me and swallowed my pill. "Good girl," he said, stroking my cheek, "now let's go home. Up for flying?" I smiled and nodded eagerly as we both changed into black ravens and flew out of the cave together.

We reached our home and changed back to our regular forms as we walked up to the front door. He opened the door and we carefully tried to sneak in as quietly as possible. "And where have you two been," Kelly asked as we had our backs turned, closing the door. I looked at Baron as Corey and Jaime walked in, staring at us. "Um...," I began, waiting for Baron to speak up. "What? We can't go for a morning walk before breakfast," he said smoothly. Kelly walked up to me and walked around me, then stopped in front of me and smirked. "You two went to the mountain, didn't you? You have his scent all over you," she said. I blushed and averted my eyes. "I knew it! And you're walking straight! You took it like a champ, huh?" "Shut up," I said and pulled her into the kitchen as Baron sighed, rubbing his temples. "Well...," Corey began but Baron quickly stopped him. "Say whatever you had to say and I will destroy you." Corey immediately shut his mouth as Jaime laughed.

"Well, now I know that you two had your magical night together. Had fun," Kelly teased as we sat at the table. "I'm not giving you details! That's personal. Geez, we just needed some alone time, that's all," I said. "Whatever you say, Maria. More importantly, I see that you've completely transitioned into one of us with no problems so that's great. Now for you to begin training." I raised an eyebrow as the guys walked in and sat down, Jaime fixing and passing out breakfast. "Training for what?" Kelly shook her head and looked over at Baron. "You didn't tell her? Geez, your hormones fried your brain or what," she scoffed as Baron let out a grunt and shrugged his shoulders. "I was going to tell her... Eventually." "Tell me what? What do I have to train for," I asked, looking at them. "Since you're Baron's better half and he's the leader of this village, that means that you will have to learn the ways of this village, how things are run around here, helping out with certain things when he's too busy, etc. Pretty much carry on certain duties that a queen would do although you don't get the queen status until your wedding day." My eyes widened at the thought of being married. "Wedding day. In all honesty, I never thought about getting married ever. I kind of always assumed that I would be alone for the rest of my life and I accepted that. Now I'm here, life for me has permanently changed and I could be some type of queen," I said, staring into my cup of coffee. Kelly rested her head on my shoulder. "Don't worry. You have me and Carmella to keep you sane around here. Speaking of which, we need to get to work after breakfast. You, beautiful, have some modeling to do." I sighed and rested my cheek on top of her head. "Never thought about being a model either. Everything is changing so fast. Finally." "Finally," Baron asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah. I've been in a rut for years now. No excitement. A boring office job that made me miserable. I needed something like this to happen to me, even though the whole going from human to a supernatural being wasn't exactly on the list. So whatever I need to learn and do, I'm ready for it." "So you're saying that you're enjoying this new life, even though it wasn't that long ago that you were just a traveler who got lost and ended up here," Baron asked and I nodded. "Change is good and I'm loving this change a lot. Life was so bland and boring before but now every day feels like an adventure and I wouldn't want to change it for anything." "Well, I have a very important question to ask," Corey smirked at me. I looked at Kelly who simply shrugged before Corey continued. "When can we expect little Barons and Marias running around and how many?" I blushed as Baron grabbed Corey by the back of the neck and dragged him out of the kitchen. "Wow," Kelly giggled, shaking her head. "Is he always so straight forward with everything," I chuckled as Kelly nodded. "Yeah. That's what I love about him and what Baron hates about him. But enough of that, work time," she said as Jaime took our plates. "Then when you return, Ms. Maria, we will begin your lessons," he said. "Okay, but can you please stop calling me Ms. Maria? Maria is just fine." He nodded as Kelly and I stood up. "Can you make sure Baron doesn't kill my husband," Kelly giggled. "No promises, but I'll try my best," he chuckled as we walked out of the kitchen.

Baron and Corey turned to look at us when we entered the room. "Headed to work," Baron asked, walking up to me. "Yeah. Time to model more clothes and help sell some," I giggled as he placed his hands on my hips. "I'll pick you up later and take you out for dinner. Just the two of us." I nodded as he bent down and kissed me before looking at Kelly who held up her hand. "I know the drill. Keep my eyes on her and make sure nothing happens. Got it. Let's go, Maria," she said, kissing Corey on the cheek before grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the door. "Wait!" We stopped and looked behind us as Jaime walked out. "I'll drive you there. I have some shopping to do and since I have to go pass there, I'll save you two the trouble of flying or running." Kelly looked at me and I nodded. "Sure, Jaime. Thanks," I said as we got in his car and we left the house. "Now that it's just us," he said as he drove, "you should know that you might get some extra attention now since we know that you're Baron's soulmate." "He's right, Maria," Kelly said, "You're very important now, not only to him but to everyone in this village. You're the only one who can keep Baron sane and help him with the village. Everything is peaceful now, but as you know by now that can all change really fast and you will need to be careful and protected 24/7." "It can get worse than what Bray tried," I asked and they nodded. "But no worries. Men around here are always protected of females so you will be in great hands," Kelly said, flashing a smile at me. "She's right, but for now, worry about your job and we will begin your training and history lessons so you will know what to do whenever something comes up. To help take some of the load off of Baron, basically," Jaime explained. "I'll do my best, not only for Baron bj for everyone here. I won't let you guys down." "Wow. Usually, someone would just run away and reject all of this new responsibility," Kelly smirked. "Yeah, but this isn't normal responsibility. Yeah, everything is happening fast, but now I feel like I have a purpose in life again and I'm enjoying this new life. Everything feels so new and refreshing. I love it here and..." "You love Baron," she asked and I blushed. "Maybe. I never believed in love at first sight, but when we first met, I was attracted to him and I really wanted to get to know him and I'm extra glad that everything worked out." "Wow," they said in unison as Jaime stopped in front of the shop. "Never thought I would see the day that someone is actually in love with Baron. This is nice. Hopefully you can make him less grumpy," he teased as Kelly and I got out. "I'll try. Thanks for the ride," I giggled and waved as he pulled off before we walked inside.

"Hello, ladies," Carmella greeted us with a smile then stared at me. "What," I asked as I pulled off my coat and hung it up. "You look different," she said, walking around me, "you've gotten thicker and your hair is longer. Finally had sex with Baron, huh?" I blushed and my jaw dropped as Kelly laughed. "Why must you say that out loud," I sighed, covering my face with my hands. "What? It's just us here," Carmella giggled, hugging me, "besides, that always happen on the first night, but the change is only temporary unless you make it permanent and I think you should keep the curves. You look cute." I sighed, looking at her. "Can we just get to work and not talk about my sex life?" She giggled and nodded as Kelly switched the sign from Closed to Open. "I made some new designs so we need to get pictures for the website. Then a large group of tourists are coming so we're in for a long busy day," she said, grabbing some clothes. "Well this one can't work too hard today. Baron is taking her out to dinner," Kelly smirked. "Wait. Are we talking about the same Baron who rather be alone and you and Corey have to practically drag him out of that mansion of his? That same Baron is going out on a date? Are you serious," Carmella asked, shock as Kelly nodded her head. "He was that bad off before I came," I asked and they nodded. "He's already changing because of you. He's been smiling more and getting less angry at Corey," Kelly added as I stepped behind a curtain and changed. "Wow. I need to see this new Baron," Carmella chuckled as I walked back out. "Can we just focus on work," I chuckled. "Yeah, sorry. We'll gossip another time. Let's get to work ladies," Carmella said as we got busy.


	13. Inserting His Dominance

Five hours later, I was helping out the last customer when Carmella tapped me on my shoulder. "Your date is here. You're done for the day," she smiled, handing me a check. "Wow. He really meant that he was coming to get me," I said, looking out of the window to see a black SUV parked in front. "Yep so go before he blows up my store," she giggled, pushing me towards the exit. "I'm going! Bye Kelly!" "Have fun," she giggled as I left the store. I pulled on my coat as I got into the SUV and smiled at Baron. "Had a fun day at work with the gossip girls," he chuckled as I fastened my seatbelt. "Leave my friends alone. Today was fun overall. Plenty of tourists came by and bought loads of clothes and I modeled some new designs Carmella made. They're so cute," I gushed as he drove. "Good. Now let's get you something to eat and get you back home as soon as possible," he said, making me raise an eyebrow. "What's the hurry?" He remained silent as he pulled up to what looked like a large restaurant and parked. He quickly shut off the car and got out, rushing over to my side and opened my door. "Thanks," I said as he helped me out of the car and shut the door. He placed his hand on my hip and urged me along as we walked to the entrance. "What's the hurry, Baron," I asked, looking up at him. "I'll tell you later. Let's just enjoy dinner together and get home," he said, rubbing my lower back with his thumb as he held open the door for me. I couldn't help but worry at his frantic movements as he talked to a waiter. I looked around the large room as Baron led me to a secluded part near the back, away from the loud noises of people chatting. We sat down across from each other as a waitress came by with a bottle of wine and poured a glass each then left. "Baron, tell me what's going on? You're scaring me," I said, looking at him. "Sorry, Maria. It's nothing serious, but you'll have to stay at home for the next few days, away from any and all males," he said, grabbing my hand. "Okay... Why?" He sighed, rubbing my hand against his cheek slowly. "While you was at work, Mark and Michelle stopped by to talk to me and reminded me of what's coming soon which is what's known as the blood moon and that's when a full moon appears in the night and it's red, which has an effect on us." The waitress returned with two plates of beef and rice and left. "Okay. Effect us how?" I pulled my hand away so I could start eating. I saw him blush and averted his eyes, taking a bite of some beef. "Tell me. Is it bad or something? Is that why I have to stay at home?" He cleared his throat and looked at me. "It's not bad per say..." "But," I urged, sipping my wine. "I don't know how to say this without offending you or pissing you off." "Just spit it out already. Now I'm curious." He sighed as he stared at me. "This is usually the time of year where the males insert total dominance over our soulmate and also the time where we tried to..." I raised an eyebrow as he seemed at a lost for words. "I don't want to say this out loud," he groaned, scratching the back of his neck. "Say it," I smirked, enjoying seeing him flustered. "This is when males try to impregnate the female," he finally said, looking away. "You couldn't say that? That's adorable," I teased as I took another sip of wine. "Shut it," he mumbled as I giggled. "So basically, for the next few days, you're going to try to impregnate me. The moon will cloud your judgement and fighting you is useless. That's the gist of it, right?" "Yes, but females give off a scent that's very irresistible to us. You, on the other hand, are completely different since you're a hybrid. Your scent is strong than other females and can effect any male near you. Even now, you're driving me insane without you knowing it," he said, staring at me. He grabbed my hand and pulled it back to his face and inhaled deeply. "Vanilla. My favorite," he smirked, rubbing my hand against his cheek. "Baron, stop. We're in public," I said, pulling my hand back. He growled and attempted to grab me again and I smacked his hand away, glaring at him. "Knock it off." He groaned and returned to eating, looking up at me in between bites. "I hate that my stubbornness became part of you," he sighed and I chuckled. "Not my fault that you're super stubborn," I smirked, finishing my food and poured another glass of wine. "I wouldn't drink too much if I was you. Might get too drunk to know what you're doing." "I know my limits. Two glasses and I'm done," I said, taking a sip. He squirmed in his seat as the evening went on until he had enough and practically dragged me out of the restaurant. "Wow. The moon is so pretty," I said as I got into the car with Baron. "Just wait until the full blood moon. It's a sight to see, but let's get you back home before anyone comes around us." I nodded and stared at the night sky as he drove us home.

We pulled up in front of the gate as it opened slowly. "For the time being, it's just going to be us. Jaime is banned. Corey is banned. I even had to keep my wolves away since I have males and females running around. I don't need them breeding inside," he said as he drove up the driveway and parked inside of the garage. "So we're going to have wolf cubs running around? Yay! I bet they're so adorable," I said as we got out of the car. "Yeah. There will be plenty running around here for awhile until people who want one stop by and pick one up," he said as he unlocked the door and stepped to the side. I walked in and flipped on the lights as I pulled off my coat. "I need a bath," I sighed, stretching as I hung up my coat. "I want to join," he said, walking up to me, licking his lips as he looked me over. "I don't need help. I'm sure that I can manage." I turned to head upstairs, but he grabbed my arm, stopping me. "I wasn't asking. I'm telling you," he growled. I looked at his hand before looking up at him and smirked before changing into a bat and flew away. "Get back here," he ordered, trying to grab me but came up empty. I laughed to myself as I flew under a door and changed back to my normal from and locked the door. "Maria, where did you go?!" I heard him stomp down the hall and I sighed with relief. I felt around and felt the bed and realized that I was in a guest bedroom. I kept walking around until I managed to find the bathroom and closed the door, locking it. "I just need a shower before I play, Baron. Just be patient," I smirked to myself as I rid myself of my clothes and got in the shower, getting myself nice and clean.

I turned off the shower and stepped out. "I found you," Baron smirked, holding up a towel. "Thanks. Have you calmed down," I asked, taking the towel and dried off. "I don't appreciate you playing games," he mumbled, pulling off his shirt. "I'm not playing game, Baron. I wanted to take a shower. Alone," I said, slipping past him and quickly left the room, heading for our bedroom to get dressed. I tried my best to fight the smile that threatened to appear as I looked for my pajamas. I jumped when I heard the loud slam of the door behind me. I chewed the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling as the sound of growling crept up behind me. "Why must you make this so hard," he growled, walking up to me. "I have no idea what you're talking about," I said innocently. He smirked and yanked the towel off of me and tossed it. "Baron!" He shook his head as he unbuckled his belt.

"You're forgetting that we're connected which means that I know what you're feeling and right now, I know that you're excited about this. You like torturing me? I'll make sure that you can't walk straight for the next couple of days," he smirked as he pulled down his jeans and kicked them off. My heart pounded in my chest as he picked me up and sat me down on the edge of the bed. "You smell so good, Ayame," he whispered as he pushed me to lay down, "I can't be gentle. Not tonight. I have to have you." My eyes widened and I flipped onto my stomach and tried to crawl away but he held onto my leg. "Baron, wait! Let's just take it slow," I gasped trying to hide my arousal. He leaned down and buried his face into my neck, inhaling deeply. "So sweet," he groaned, thrusting his hips, his rock hard erection rubbing against my butt. His teeth scraped against my neck and his breath fanned my skin as he pinned down my wrists with one hand. "Mine. All mine," he growled using his free hand to trail down my body towards my core and shoved two fingers inside of me, thrusting them roughly. "Baron," I whined, squirming at the intense and sudden pleasure. "That's not what you call me," he growled in my ear. I gasped as he curled his fingers inside of me, keeping my arms pinned down so I wouldn't escape. "Alpha, please," I moaned, looking back at him. His eyes widened and he removed his fingers and released my wrists, standing up. I stood up and smirked at him. "So much for being dominant," I teased, a flash of rage filling his eyes. He sucked on his fingers before shoving me back down. "I'm trying to show you mercy," he smirked, getting on his knees, grabbing my legs and lifted them onto his shoulders , "but after that smart ass remark, mercy has left the building." He plunged his tongue inside of my core, his mouth closing around my clit as he began to devour me. "Alpha!" I clung to the bedsheets and cried out in pleasure as his mouth worked its magic. My senses heightened and I was on the verge of a strong orgasm until he stopped and stood up, licking his lips as he stared down at my shivering body. "You taste so sweet, Ayame. But I need to be inside of you right now before I explode," he smirked, fisting his dick.

I rolled over onto all fours and crawled up all of the way onto the bed. In a flash, he was hovering over me once more, pinning my wrists above my head with one hand and used his other hand to guide his dick towards my entrance before shoving himself inside of me. I cried out as he roughly thrusted inside of me, growling with each powerful thrust as the bed creaked. "You feel so fucking good. This is all mine to enjoy whenever I want. I'd fuck this pretty pussy in front of everyone and have everyone hear you scream for me," he growled, squeezing my wrists. My body felt like it was lit on fire and every muscle was screaming as Baron continued his assault. "Alpha, please," I cried out as he moved painfully fast in and out of me. He ignored my cries as he grabbed my jaw and forced my mouth open. He bit down hard on his lip, drawing blood and letting it drip down into my mouth. "That should shut you up," he smirked and released my jaw. I licked my lips, loving the crimson taste of him, and slowly began to give in to the rough pleasure. He trailed sloppy kisses down my chest slowly, blood staining my body as his thrusts became more sporadic. "You're mine. You're all I want. You're all I need. And now I need you to have my children," he whispered against my skin in a deep husky voice as if to cast a spell on me. I could feel his words trying to imprint my brain, but I snapped out of it. I could feel his dick throbbing inside of me and no signs of him pulling out. "Ayame," he groaned as he began to slow down and closed his eyes. I wiggled my wrists free from his grasps and used all of my strength to push him off at the last second as come landed on my thighs. I sighed and pushed my hair back that stuck to my forehead and rolled over, my body feeling like lead. I heard a deep rumble as the bed shifted and my wrists were pinned once again. "You shouldn't have done that," he growled in my ear, squeezing my wrists, "I'm the one who's in control of this relationship. You belong to me and I belong to you. I give you what you want and you give me what I want. I want our little home to be filled with children that look like us. You would be the perfect mother. You are my soulmate and you're so perfect and you're all mine." His whispers echoed in my mind, clouding my judgement as submission started to sink in. His kissed down my spine slowly as he kept a tight grip on my wrists. "Alpha. No more," I moaned as he used his free hand to massage my hip. "Just give in to my wishes and this will be over before you know it," he whispered as he spread my legs once more. "Too soon for kids. Let's wait. We're not even married," I gasped as his hand slid down to my over sensitive core and rubbed my folds. "I'll marry you tomorrow. I'll marry you in a few hours. I don't care. I will do anything if it means that you will give me children." I shook my head and glared at him. "I said No, Alpha," I growled, forcing him to stop what he was doing and look me in the eyes. "Getting angry will only make things harder for you. Although it is a turn on for me," he chuckled. I smirked and quickly changed into a snake and slithered out from under him. "What the fuck?" I made my way towards the door and slipped under it, changing back into myself fully dressed as I quickly ran down the hall and went into a different bedroom, locking the door. I sighed and looked down at my wrists, his fingerprints bruising my skin. "Ayame! I don't like playing games! When I find you, you're in deep trouble," I heard him yell. I bit my lip, stopping the giggle that almost escaped as I thought of this torture game of cat and mouse with Baron. "Where the fuck are you, Ayame?!" I heard a loud thud followed by him growling closer to the room that I was hiding in. I licked my lips and carefully unlocked the door as I heard another crash. I changed into a ladybug and crawled on the door and slipped out of the room. I saw Baron standing in the door frame down the hall in his boxers with rage on his face. "I know that you're near me. Come out and I'll be somewhat gentle this time," he smirked and sniffed the air. I watched as he went into another room and waited before I changed into a wolf and headed for the stairs. I reached the stairs and was ready to make a break for downstairs when my tail was grabbed and I was yanked backwards. I slowly looked up as Baron stared at me. "Change. Now." I changed back to my normal self and smiled innocently at him, rubbing his chest. He grabbed my wrists and pulled me off of my feet so I was eye level to him. "You think this is funny and cute?" I giggled and kissed his cheek. "Okay, smart ass. You're in for a long night," he growled as he ripped off my clothes then carried me into our bedroom, locking the door and pushed a dresser in front of it.


	14. Completely Dominated

I slowly sat up, my aching body feeling like lead after a long night of Baron trying his hardest to impregnate me. Teeth marks and fingerprints covered different parts of my body as I looked over at Baron. After the fifth round, he finally passed out from exhaustion and the long pleasurable nightmare was on hold. I carefully got out of bed and changed into a snake, slowly slithering out of the room and changed back. I slowly walked into the hallway bathroom and closed the door. I turned on the lights and looked at my body at the different bruises painting my skin. "How long do I have to deal with this," I sighed, stretching as I walked over to the shower and got in. The hot water felt good on my body and my sore muscles began to relax as I showered. I felt more refresh and a lot better after I got clean and turned off the shower. I dried off and made some clean clothes appear on my body. I slowly opened the door and peeked out, the hall empty and nothing was stirring. I quietly walked out and walked downstairs to the kitchen. I grabbed an apple and cut it up, trying to get something in my body. I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard a knock and walked into the living room to the front door. "Baron? Maria? It's Michelle." I quickly walked to the door and opened it, Michelle's eyes widen when she saw my appearance. "Hey, Michelle. Come in," I said, opening the door wider. "Are you okay? I should've came yesterday before everything happened," she said, walking in and looking me over. "I'm okay. Just tired. I can make you a cup of coffee if you want," I said as we walked into the kitchen. "No, sweetheart. That's okay. I'm here to check on you. Mark and I was worrying that Baron might hurt you. Trying to get you pregnant?" I nodded as she began checking me over. "I've been fighting him all night. He's in bed sleep, but I don't know how long that will last." She checked my eyes with a little light then reached in her pocket. "But you were able to fight every chance, right?" I nodded again as she pulled out a needle. "Good. I can tell by your appearance that you won't be able to keep fighting him so I'm going to give you a special type of birth control medicine that will definitely prevent pregnancy. We always give this to females when they're not ready for children. Don't tell Baron. He's not himself right now so just bare with him." I nodded as she wiped my shoulder with an alcohol wipe and injected me with the medicine. "It will start working immediately and it will last for three weeks. Tonight is the blood moon so he's going to be more aggressive. During the day, he's not going to try anything. He'll just try to make sure that you're well rested and have plenty to eat. He may act like his normal self, but he's still in breed mode so don't fall for anything. Try to keep fighting so he doesn't know what's going on. Everything will be okay and I'll make sure to check you over again. Now as far as I'm concerned, I wasn't here. Please be careful," she said. "Thank you, Michelle. I'll try not to let him break me," I giggled as we hurried to the front door. "Okay. Mark and I will be back once the blood moon is over. Bye, sweetheart," she smiled before leaving. I closed the door and locked it, sighing as I returned to the kitchen to finish my apple, feeling a lot better now that I was having something to eat. I poured myself a glass of water and took a sip when I felt a presence behind me. I turned around slowly and looked up as Baron stared down at me. "Good morning, Maria," he said, reaching to caress my cheek. "Good morning, Baron. Are you okay? I mean, do you feel better," I asked timidly. He smirked and took my glass of water from me and drunk the rest in one gulp before setting the glass down on the counter. "I am now. We have some unfinished business." I started trembling when he grabbed my arm and fear filled my eyes. "Relax. Not that. You look tired. Let's go back to bed," he said, smiling as he picked me up. "But I need more food, Baron." He set me back down on my feet and walked to the fridge. I sighed and sat down as he began to cook breakfast. I watched intently as he fixed some food and passed me a plate. "Thank you," I smiled as he handed me a fork. "Anything for my beautiful princess," he said, petting my head as he sat down with his own plate and we ate in peace. Every once in a while, I would look up to see him staring at me, watching me as I ate my food. I flashed a smile and looked back down at my plate as he watched me.

"That was good, Baron. Thank you," I said as I put down my fork on my now empty plate. He nodded and took our plates and put them in the dishwasher. I stood up and headed for the stairs and froze when he appeared behind me. "Where are you going," he asked, grabbing my hand. "Oh. I was going to brush my teeth and wash my face." He nodded and released my hand when there was another knock at the front door. He glared at the door then tapped my hip. "Go upstairs and stay up there," he warned and I nodded as I went upstairs, not bothering to argue as I returned to our bedroom and went to the bathroom, freshening up. I heard a loud door slam and had to fight the urge to run downstairs. I wiped my mouth and walked out of the bathroom just as Baron walked in the bedroom. "Everything okay?" He nodded, walking over to me and picked me up, pulling my shoes off of me before carrying me over to the bed and laid me down, pulling me close to him. I sighed as exhaustion swept over me and I relaxed in his arms. "Just rest, Maria. Get as much sleep as you need," he whispered into my ear before he turned my head to the side, exposing my neck to him and he slowly began to lick me. I pushed him away and turned over, keeping my back to him as I slept. I felt him move again and his tongue was once again on my neck, licking me slowly. "Stop," I whined, pushing him away. "I just want to make sure that you're comfortable," he said, rubbing my side. "I'm fine. Let me sleep," I sighed, burying my face into my pillow. He pulled me closer to him and rested his head on top of mine, massaging my side as I drifted off to sleep. I could hear him softly snoring as we slept.

I sighed and stretched as I slowly awaken from my slumber to find Baron gone. I got out of bed and went to the bathroom before leaving the bedroom and walked downstairs. Baron was nowhere to be found, but there was hot food on the kitchen counter when I walked in. I looked around and couldn't sense Baron anywhere as I sat down, a plate of rice and chicken in front of me. I sighed, feeling slightly relaxed as I ate in peace, not worrying about Baron forcing himself on me, practically smothering me with affection and love. I hummed to myself as I happily ate my dinner, my mind wondering to where Baron went. I sighed as I finished my dinner and put the dishes away and walked into the living room. I sat down on the sofa and turned on the tv, aimlessly flipping through the channels until I got bored and placed the remote control down on the coffee table next to the candy bowl and grabbed a piece of candy and ate it. It was unusually quiet without Baron and the others around and I felt so small in this large home without anyone with me. I turned around on the sofa and opened the curtains slightly and looked up at the sky. The entire sky was dark red with black clouds, the crimson moon peeking out. I felt entranced by it as I stared at it, as if an invisible force was drawing me towards it, the world around me seemingly disappeared.

I began to feel strange the longer I stared at the crimson moon. My body burned and craved for Baron's touch as need suddenly flooded me. My clothes felt like they were sticking to my skin, making them uncomfortable to have on. My mind grew fuzzy and all I wanted was Baron, right here, right now. The curtains were immediately pulled closed, catching me off guard as I looked up to see Baron hovering over me, smirk on his face. "You shouldn't have opened the curtains," he chuckled, sitting down next to me, "sit in my lap, facing me." I wasted no time as I moved over and sat in his lap as instructed. He cupped my face and pulled me closer, inhaling my scent and let out a low groan. "You smell so much sweeter today," he groaning, inhaling my scent again, "like strawberries. I wonder if you taste just as sweet." He stood up, holding me in his arms before quickly making his way to our room, shutting and locking the door. He walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down, putting me down in front of him. "Take off your clothes. Now," he ordered and I nodded, preparing to use my powers, but he shook his head. "Strip for me." I peeled off my shirt and tossed it on the floor, quickly removing my bra and letting it slide off me. He licked his lips and pulled off his shirt, throwing it to the floor. I pulled off my shoes then unzipped my jeans, wiggling them down along with my panties before stepping out of them. Baron sucked in his breath before spreading my legs slightly. "Now for the fun part," he smirked before licking a trail between the valley of my breast up along the vein in my neck. He placed his hands on my ass and lifted me up, standing and walking over to the wall and pinned me to it, my legs on his shoulders. My arms felt like they were being pulled as they were pinned to the wall. There was a rumble and metal cuffs appeared around my wrists, keeping them pinned to the wall as Baron's tongue dived straight into my core, thrusting in and out of me. "Baron," I whimpered, trying to get out of the cuffs. I yelped when he smacked my ass, looking at me, giving me a warning with his eyes. "S-sorry, Alpha," I whimpered as my will to fight began to slip out of me, slowly being replaced with pleasure. He groaned and removed his mouth, licking his lips as he looked at me. "You taste way sweeter than last night. I will devour you tonight," he growled before diving back into my core, my legs shaking as his mouth closed around my clit and he sucked painfully on it. I bit my lip hard, causing it to bleed, to stop the scream that threatened to escape from me as he stared at me. Every muscle in my body tightened as my first intense orgasm hit and he quickly lapped up my juices, growling as he licked his lips. He stared at my bloody lip as he grabbed my thighs and yanked me down, the cuffs dragging down the wall until I was eye level with him. He roughly grabbed my jaw, forcing my mouth open before licking at my bloody lip. He tugged my bottom lip gently, letting it snap back, my blood on his lips. "You taste so good, Ayame," he groaned, releasing my jaw as he slid his fingers down my torso slowly, smirking as I squirmed. "Alpha... I need you," I whined, looking at him with pleading eyes. He grabbed my throat, gently squeezing, making sure that I was focused on him. "You don't get to demand anything. I'm in control of this situation, not you. Got it," he growled into my ear. "Y-yes, Alpha. I'm sorry," I whispered and he released my throat, placing his hands on the cuffs and pulled them further down until I was on the floor in front of him. "Be a good girl for me and I'll give you want you want," he smirked, unzipping his pants and pulled them down, along with his boxers and kicked them off.

He grabbed his hard member and stroked it slowly before letting out a low grunt. I opened my mouth and he pushed his massive cock inside, groaning as he placed his hand on the back of my head and began thrusting his hips, the tip hitting the back of my throat repeatedly. I moaned and looked up at him, his eyes shut and mouth opened as he became lost in his own pleasure. His hand gripped my hair tightly as he pushed my head towards him with each thrust as he groaned. "Good girl. Just like that," he praised, a smirk on his face as he opened his eyes, staring down at me. He released my hair and pulled out of my mouth, his cock inches away from my mouth. "Lick me. I want to watch your tongue slide up and down on my dick. I want you to look into my eyes while you do it. Then I will reward you." I stuck out my tongue and looked up at him, not breaking eye contact as I slowly licked from base to the tip and back down. He groaned as he watched me, drinking in the sight of me before grabbing the cuffs and broke them and picked me up, smashing his lips against mine as he battled to dominate me. "I'm going to treat you right. Do you trust me," he asked in a low husky voice as he rubbed my bottom lip with his thumb. "Yes, Alpha," I whispered as he walked over to the bed, carrying me in his arms. "Then say the words." My heart raced as my desire for him grew, pushing back any will to defy him. "I give myself to you." He climbed into bed and laid me down, his larger frame covering me as he pushed his hair back over his shoulders before spreading my legs and pushed inside of me, not giving me time to adjust as he vigorously thrusted. My nails dug right into his back, drawing blood, which encouraged him to thrust harder and faster. The headboard crashed against the wall from the force of his thrusts which drowned out my screams of ecstasy. He placed his hand back on my throat, keeping his control over me as his thumb caressed my chin. "Alpha," I moaned, staring into his eyes as he shook his head. "You come when I say that you can come," he growled, squeezing my throat gently before focusing on his thrusts. I clawed at his arm as the pleasure built up and my insides felt like they would explode as he continued his dominance of me for what felt like hours.

My nipples rubbed painfully hard against his chest as my walls began to squeeze his dick. He let go of my throat and licked at my neck slowly as his dick began to throb. "Come for me. Come all over my dick," he ordered before biting my neck. I let out a scream as I came hard over his dick, my last ounce of energy leaving me. He smirked when he saw me lay under him, exhausted and unable to fight him off. "Perfect," he chuckled before he slammed into me and stopped, cursing under his breath as he filled me with his come. He pushed my hair to the side and turned my head, exposing my neck to him as he licked his lips, exposing his sharp teeth before sinking them into my neck. I sighed as he licked at the holes in my neck, closing them before he pulled out of me. "You won't be in any pain when we get up in the morning," he whispered, kissing me. I nodded as he pulled me on top of him, my head resting on his chest as I listened to the sound of his heartbeat before drifting off to sleep. "Maria..." a voice called out, but I was too tired to acknowledge it.


	15. The Guardian

"Maria... Lady Maria..." I sighed and put the pillow over my head to muffle the voice that tried to disturb me. "Lady Maria. It's time to wake up. It's very important to get up," the unfamiliar voice said. I reached over to hit Baron, but his side was empty. "He's not here. He's downstairs at the moment. He'll be back soon," the voice said. I stayed under the covers, trying my hardest to sleep. "Lady Maria..." "Please go away. I just want to sleep. I'm so tired," I whined. Silence. I sighed and curled up in bed, ready to enjoy more sleep when I felt a hand on my back and sleep escaped my body. I removed the pillow off of my head and shot up, glaring then quickly froze when I saw the strange figure standing next to the bed. "Lady Maria! Please cover yourself," the mysterious... creature said, covering its eyes and grabbed the covers, holding it up to me. I grabbed the covers and hugged the covers close to my body as I stared at the figure as it slowly removed its hand from its face. It had long arms and legs with skin as white as snow and jet black hair. It had black shoes, black pants, and a long sleeved black and white striped shirt. Its lips were black and formed a big smile, razor sharp teeth in its mouth. Staring into its eyes was like staring into a dark pit, its pupils black and seemingly soulless. "Who...," I whispered, unable to finish the question as fear took over. "Relax, lady Maria. No need to be afraid of me. I'm not here to hurt you, I promise. I'm Jack," he said, smiling at me. "Jack... how do you know my name?" He blinked as he stared at me. "I'm your guardian. I've been watching over you since you were little. Don't you remember me?" I shook my head and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture of me when I was little, sitting in his lap except he wasn't as pale and his eyes weren't soulless. "You were my best friend. My only friend. The only one who took care of me when my parents wouldn't. Then you left me," I said as the surpressed memories began to resurface. "I'm sorry, lady Maria. I shouldn't have left you. You grew up then forgot about me when you went to college which drained my power and life which is why I look like this," he chuckled as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "How did you find me?" "Our spirits are connected. When there was a shift in your spirit, I had to figure out why. That's when I discovered that you're no longer a human. You're a hybrid which is why you can clearly see me now. I'm a reaper, but not the kind who just goes around killing people. My job is to protect the spirit that was assigned to me." "Which is me," I asked and he nodded. "You were a special case. Little girl being raised by abusive parents. I had to take care of you, watch over you, protect you. You were the only one who could see me. You tried to explain to everyone who I was, but no one believed you because I cloaked my existence so no one would try to send you to a hospital or hurt you." "Then I thought that you wasn't real and I blocked you out. Am I the reason behind you looking like this?" "This wasn't your fault. You were trying to move on with your life and block out the past. It's okay. I'm just glad that I was able to see you again. Er, not like this, though," he chuckled, putting his large hand on top of my head. "Oh right. Sorry," I giggled and used my powers to get dressed and pulled the covers off of me just as the door opened. "Everything okay in here," Baron asked, walking in, staring at me. I looked at Jack who simply smiled. "Yeah. Thanks for letting me see her. It's been a struggle finding her," Jack answered. "Wait. You can see him," I asked Baron who chuckled. "Yeah. How do you think he got in?" I blushed and turned my head, not wanting to answer. "She thought I flew in here. Probably because she heard my voice in her head last night," Jack said. "Oh yeah. There was no way that you would want to come last night. We were... preoccupied," Baron chuckled as he pulled me up into his arms. "No more info needed. I'm just glad to see her." "Wait. Are you leaving? I don't want you to leave," I said, staring at Jack as he stood up. "I don't want to intrude." "You're not. It's fine. You're part of her past life and I want to know more about her so please stay," Baron offered, motioning for him to follow as he carried me out of the bedroom and downstairs to the kitchen. "Well, I do want to study the new lady Maria so I'll take you up on your offer," Jack said. Baron kissed my cheek and sat me down in a chair as he stretched. "So what's with the Lady Maria thing anyway?" Jack shrugged as he walked over to the fridge. "I've always called her that since she was little. I considered her a little princess and treated her as such." "Yeah and you were my faithful servant," I giggled as he grabbed different food items to prepare for breakfast. "Still am. I'm here to help you now. You won't be able to get rid of me now," he chuckled as he began to cook.

Baron petted my head and sat down next to me, pulling me closer and licked my cheek. "Stop that," I giggled, playfully glaring at him, making him smirk. "My beautiful princess," he whispered, caressing my cheek before sliding his hand down to my stomach, "and future mother of my children. I know that you're scared of being a mother, but I know that you will be great. I'm going to be here for you every step of the way. Soon, our child will be growing inside of you and we will be able to start our family." I could see the joy and happiness in his eyes as he rubbed my stomach. I averted my eyes when I thought about the shot that Michelle gave me. I couldn't bare to see how he would react if he knew that I wasn't pregnant. "Also," he whispered into my ear, pulling me from my thoughts, "the shot Michelle gave you doesn't work on you. Even if it did, my blood course through you which can filter out anything that shouldn't be inside of you. Not to mention, when I bit you last night, the medicine drained out." I looked up at him as he stared at me. "Do you really not want children?" I looked down at his hand on my stomach as Jack chimed in. "It's not that she doesn't want children. She's afraid of being a terrible mother after the ordeal that she went through as a child." I nodded my head slowly at Jack's explanation for my feelings. "What did happen to you," Baron asked, kissing my forehead. Jack walked over and placed plates in front of each of us before sitting at the end of the table. I shook my head, picking up my fork and began eating. "Maria. Talk to me," Baron sighed as I ignored the question. "Jack, tell me everything. I have to know." Jack cleared his throat as I remained silent. "Lady Maria. Is it okay if I tell him? Or is it that you've suppressed all of your memories and you chose to forget about them?" I sipped my juice in silence as Jack continued to speak. "Lady Maria had a very abusive dad and a mother who would just look the other way. That bastard would get drunk and whenever he was angry, he took it out on her. When I first was assigned to be Lady Maria's guardian, I was kind of shock considering that she came from a very rich family who owns hotels all over America. I thought that I would be dealing with some spoiled heiress, but when I first saw her, I knew something was wrong. Seeing a young child with large soulless eyes, almost like a zombie, you can tell something is wrong. We came face to face one day while she was out playing in the backyard and I immediately became her best friend slash guardian. Luckily she lived in a mansion so it was easy for me to roam around and stay with her. I saw the mental destruction of what that man was doing to her. I also saw the scars that damaged her skin. The tattoos on her are imprints that I made to cover them up as much as possible. I think she's afraid to have children because she's afraid that she may not be able to love them." Baron placed his hand on my stomach and kissed my cheek. "It's going to be okay, Maria. We will give our children all of the love in the world," he said. "It's not that. It's just... I don't want to fail you or our children or this village," I sighed, rubbing my temples, "also... um well Jack, you tell him about you know." Jack raised an eyebrow, his head tilting to the side. "Tell me what?" "Um well... twins and triplets run in my family." A huge smile appeared on his face as he scooped me up into his arms and hugged me, almost suffocating me. "Um I think she needs to breathe," Jack chuckled as Baron set me down in his lap. "Sorry. Got carried away for a second," he chuckled, rubbing my back. "So you're not afraid of being a father of two or three," I asked timidly. "Of course not. I'm excited now. This is all I've ever wanted. My wolf princess, soon to be queen, and my cubs, our cubs, growing inside of you. I couldn't be happier," he said, kissing my cheek. "And a very loyal servant who will be happy to help," Jack chimed in. "Hm. I already have one, but I guess we could use more help around here, especially if we're going to have little ones running around. In fact, you can help Maria with her studies of the village and the culture. Jamie will be here soon to help you. He's usually here to cook and clean up a little, but he's late. The entire crew is late actually. "

Moments later, as if right on cue, Jamie, Corey, and Kelly walked into the kitchen and immediately stared at Jack. "Hello, all. I'm Jack, Lady Maria's loyal servant since she was young. There's plenty of food for everyone," he smiled at them. "It's fine. He's a guardian," Baron sighed when everyone looked at him. Corey shrugged and fixed himself a plate and sat down. "Well, it's nice to meet you and thanks for filling in for me," Jamie chuckled as he fixed his own plate. "Wow. This is amazing. He should cook more often," Corey said in between bites as Jamie glared at him. "I'm Kelly, just so you know since these two are so rude," Kelly giggled as she sat down next to Corey. "Nice to meet you. Let me guess, that's Corey and you're Jamie, the usual cook," Jack said and both men nodded. "Jamie will be the one that will be teaching Maria and I would like you to help," Baron said. "It would be my pleasure to help Lady Maria in her studies," Jack smiled. "Lady Maria?" "It's a long story. I'll tell you later, Corey," Baron sighed. He rested his head on my shoulder, his hand on my stomach rubbing slowly as we enjoyed a peaceful meal with our friends.

"So are you going to work today," Kelly asked as we all sat in the living room together, Jamie and Jack remained in the kitchen. "I don't think so. I think I'm going to stay home. Carmella won't mind, will she," I asked and Kelly shook her head. "She said that it was fine. She might not open the store today anyways so we can have a day off to relax." Jack walked in and smiled at me. "Lady Maria, it's time for your lessons." I glared at Baron who smirked. "Why did you have to have them both be my teachers," I mumbled as I stood up. "You'll learn faster that way. Thank me later," he chuckled as I looked back at him before Jack took my hand and led me into the kitchen. "Okay, spill it. What's with this guardian and Lady Maria situation? I thought guardians only protected the souls of their victims until they lull them into false hope then kill them for their soul," Corey said. "That was just a myth parents told their kids to keep them from wondering around outside," Kelly chuckled. "What? I missed so much sleep and play time outside over that!" Baron shook his head. "Some do, but some are assigned to the protect the innocent. In this case, Maria was being raised by a mom who could careless what happened to her while her drunk father used her as a punching bag. Jack lost touch with her when she grew up and lost the connection. She's here now which means that her soul is much more powerful so he was able to find her. I felt his presence last night when he was trying to reach out to her and blocked him until he appeared this morning and he explained the situation and it was very important that those two reunite. I felt the stress that she was carrying disappear when she talked to him," he explained. "Wow. You actually trust a guy around your woman who's not from here? Shocking," Corey teased. "Yeah, well if we have little ones running around here, we could use all of the help we can get." Kelly's eyes widened as she looked at Corey before looking back at Baron. "You didn't..." "I did. And after easing her mind, she's happy about it." "So in a matter of months, you found your soulmate and you're already having children. So what's next, a wedding," Kelly asked and Baron shrugged. "I would like that, but I have to get the ring that's been passed down." "And she's on board with this," Corey asked. "Yes, although she did say that she would kill me if we get married while she's very pregnant," he chuckled. "Well, I'm happy for you two. This is all so exciting. Carmella and I will happily make her dress," Kelly squealed and stood up. "Right now," Corey asked. "Sure. The sooner, the better. I'll see you later," she said, kissing Corey on the cheek before making her exit. "Wow. I guess I should go get tuxes made then. You can have fun with her lessons," Corey teased before leaving. Baron stood up and walk to the kitchen to help with today's lessons.

"Okay. I think we can stop for today," Jamie said as I rested my head on the table, my brain feeling like it was going to explode. "Ready for lunch, Lady Maria," Jack asked and I nodded, "coming right up." "I'll help," Jamie volunteered as I stood up and walked out to the living room, Baron following behind me. "Where did Corey and Kelly go to," I asked as he sat down and pulled me into his lap. "Shopping for our wedding apparently," he chuckled. "Oh no. We haven't even planned anything," I giggled. "Might as well get an early start. I can't wait to properly ask. I don't want to screw this up. Maybe we can to out to dinner or go for a ride. Maybe go up to the mountains and look at stars," he said, kissing my cheek. "I didn't think that you're the romantic type," I smirked as he pout. "What? Someone like me can't spoil his woman? I'm capable of that. Give me some credit." I shook my head, folding my arms. "I have to see it to believe it." He stood up and set me down on the couch before walking away. "Baron?" "Give me a second." I raised an eyebrow and watched as he walked upstairs. He returned minutes later and sat down next to me, holding out a black box. I stared at it before taking the top off, exposing a necklace with a large red crystal on the end. "So pretty," I said before picking it up and put it on. "That was made specifically for my soulmate. Along with this," he said, grabbing my wrist and slipped a gold bracelet on me. He touched the crystal gently before leaning in and capturing my lips. "Mm. Maybe you can be romantic," I teased when the kids ended. "You're testing my patience," he said, trying not to grin. "Lady Maria, Master Baron, lunch is ready," Jack yelled from the kitchen.

"Okay, he cannot call me master. That will not be a thing," Baron sighed as he stood up and pulled me to my feet. "Give him a break. He's learning just like me," I said as we walked into the kitchen, my mouth immediately watering at the delicious smell of lasagna as Jack fixed our plates. "Thanks for everything. Listen, just call me Baron. No need for the Master or Mister. Just Baron," he said as Jack set our plates down and pulled out my chair for me and pushed it back in. "Noted. Will you need anything else," Jack asked, smiling at me. "No. Aren't you going to eat with us," I asked him. "I don't want to intrude on you two lovebirds. Plus I was eating before I called you two in. I think I'll explore the village for a while. Maybe go to the library to read for a few hours." "You will come back, right? You're staying here, right?" "I couldn't..." "You're not intruding, man. Stay here. I have plenty of rooms here. Just pick a room and it's yours. There's no need to go find a hotel or anything like that. You're practically like Maria's family so you're welcomed here," Baron said. "Well, thank you so much. I'll gladly accept the offer. Now, I'll be off to do some research on the village so I can help with Lady Maria's studying," he said, petting my head before leaving. "Thank you," I said, looking over at Baron as we ate. "No thanks needed. I can tell that he cares about you a lot. I could use the help with protecting you anyways because Corey and Jamie aren't always here. Plus if you are pregnant, you will need extra protection." "Why?" He sighed and set his fork down. "Well, I'm the most powerful alpha males in the village. Well, one of them. Anyways, I have a strong bloodline and with you, a hybrid, you also have a strong bloodline which means..." "That our children will be strong?" He nodded his head. "So to speak, they're powerful and enemies, like Bray Wyatt and the undead will target you and them, trying to destroy you. So next month, when you start showing symptoms, that will be the time that you will need to be extra careful. Jack will have to accompany you to and from work. If you want to go shopping or anywhere, someone will have to accompany you. That crystal around your neck was made from my blood. I have a strong connection to it. It will help me keep in contact with you. I will be able to feel every feeling that you feel. So if you're ever in danger, I'll sense it and I will rush to your side and protect you." "Like a knight in shining armor," I smiled. "Yeah, but I'm not wearing armor. That shit doesn't look comfortable at all." I laughed at how serious he looked when he said that, shaking my head. "It's nice to hear a beautiful laugh in this house for once. It really brightens up this dark home." "Maybe I can paint one of the rooms pink. That will brighten up the place." "Pushing it." I laughed again as we enjoyed lunch, having silly conversations together.


	16. State of Happiness

Later that day, we sat on the couch, watching tv together when the front door opened and Jack returned with bags. "Hey, Jack. Been shopping, I see," I greeted as he set the bags down and shut the door. "Yeah. Just wanted to pick up a few things for myself and the home," he said, smiling at me. "Whatever you need, feel free to get it. If you want to use the car, keys hanging in the kitchen. Just tell people that you're staying here, they'll put everything on my tab," Baron said. "You're too kind. The least I can do is pay for my things." "It's fine. I will need you to do something very important for me, well us." Jack nodded and sat down. "What's my job?" "If Maria is pregnant, she will need to be protected at all costs. I would need you to be her escort when she goes to work or to the store. Whenever I'm not around, I need you to watch over her for me. Think you can handle it?" Jack nodded, looking at us. "Leave everything to me. I will make sure that no harm comes to Lady Maria. I've studied up on pregnancy so I know exactly what to do," he said, "also, Lady Maria, I think it's time for you to get back into your hobby that you loved so much." I puzzled my brain as he reached into one of the bags and pulled something out, walking over to me and handed me a sketchbook. "Drawing? Really?" "Yeah. It kept the stress off of you so you will need it. You need to stay relaxed as much as possible. I can tell that you're stressed now so this will help. Or do you still have the same sweet tooth?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of candy. I smiled and took it, unwrapping it and put it in my mouth. "Still taste the same from when I was little," I giggled as I grabbed a pencil and opened the sketchbook and started to draw. Jack petted my head before grabbing one of his bags and walked into the kitchen. Baron stood up and immediately walked into the kitchen after Jack.

"I need to talk to you," he said as Jack put groceries away. "About Lady Maria?" He nodded as they sat down at the counter. "You know her best so you're the main person I can talk to about her. How can I keep her happy? I don't want to scare her off or anything like that. I did that once when she found out that we weren't all humans and that nearly killed me." "Yeah. I read about the history of your people and how important it is for them to find the one who carries the other half of their souls. Listen, it's easy. Just be yourself. Lady Maria has been through a lot in her life like I told you. Just reassure her that you're not going anywhere, especially if she's pregnant or not. Do not leave her. She's in love with you, I can feel that. Do not break her heart. I don't think she could handle it. Also, she loves animals so maybe a pet will be nice to have around here," Jack explained. "I have wolves." Jack chuckled, shaking his head. "I was thinking of maybe a puppy or something. Those are your wolves. Maybe get her a puppy to keep her company as well. Also, don't try to change her. I know she can be headstrong and stubborn. You will have to deal with that." Baron sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It doesn't help that I'm like that and now that we're bound together, my habits are slipping into her." "Oh joy," Jack chuckled, "overall, I say just keep doing what you're doing and you two will be fine. Now I should tell you that I do give her candy that keeps her relaxed, nothing that can harm her or the possible child. The candy has a spell cast on them to help her remain focus and almost in a trance. That will help her with her studies too. Overall, I think she's in great hands." Baron looked back at the door before looking back at Jack. "I know that I'm asking a lot in one day, but can I ask one more favor?" "Ask all of the favors you need. That's what I'm here for." "There's a place where special rings are made and I can't go get it without her being suspicious." "So you want me to go get it for you?" Baron nodded and Jack smiled. "Leave it to me. I will have that done. Now what about the puppy situation?" "You're not going to let that go, huh," Baron sighed. "When it comes to Lady Maria's happiness, I will do anything." "I'll take care of the puppy. You actually just gave me a great idea on how to propose to her in a better way that's not so cliche." "Happy to help. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm turning in early. My power is completely drained and I need to rest up. I'll see you in the morning," Jack said as they both stood up and walked back into the living room. Jack walked up to me and kissed the top of my head. "Going to sleep, Lady Maria. I'll be here when you wake up, okay?" I looked up at him and smiled. "Okay. Good night." He smiled before walking away, going upstairs as Baron sat down next to me. "What are you drawing?" I put my pencil down and showed him my drawing of a large black wolf. "Not bad. I didn't know that you could draw." I shrugged as I set the sketchbook on the table and leaned against Baron. "It was a hobby that I forgot about. Glad to see that I still got it." He scooped me up and placed me back in his lap. "So how are you feeling? About possibly being the mother of my children?" I sighed and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I was scared at first because I thought that you might leave me if I don't give you what you wanted. Or I can't love them, but honestly, I think I'm ready as long as you're with me." He smiled and pulled me in for a kiss, wrapping his arms around me. "I have a request." "Yes, we can name one of our sons after you," I giggled, making him smile. "Thanks, but that wasn't the request. I want to make love to you. No Alpha. No Ayame. Just Baron making sweet love to his beautiful Maria. I know that I've pretty much been training you to call me Alpha in bed, but tonight, I just want to hear you say my name tonight." He cupped my face and caressed my cheeks with his thumbs as he stared at me, waiting for an answer. He licked his lips and pressed them against the vein of my neck, placing wet kisses up and down my neck slowly. "Baron," I whispered, grabbing his wrists. He let out a soft grunt and looked at me. "I want you to make love to me tonight." He nodded and stood up, wrapping my legs around his waist. "Anything for my princess," he said as he headed for the stairs, "tonight, we enter our world of pure bliss."

He carried me to our bedroom and closed and locked the door behind us before turning around and pinned my back to the door, smashing our lips together. His hands massaged my hips as the kiss deepened and our clothes evaporating, skin touching skin as the air around us shifted. He peeled me off of the door and carried me over to the bed, laying me down before hovering over me. "You're so beautiful," he whispered, caressing my cheek with his finger before slowly dragging it down my throat, down to the valley of my breast where the crystal on my necklace had settled, his eyes focused on the crystal before settling back on my eyes. He cupped my face and pulled me up slightly, pushing his tongue into my mouth as he groaned into the kiss. My body slowly began to become flooded with need, needing him inside of me, needing him to become one with me. I reached between us and grabbed his hard erection, stroking it slowly. He let out a soft grunt and broke the kiss, a smirk on his face. "Someone's impatient." "Baron, please," I whispered, kissing along his jawline. He grabbed my hand and pulled it away from his erection as he picked me up, readjusting himself until he was sitting on the bed, his back against the headboard as he sat me down on his legs. "What do you want," he smirked, grabbing his cock and lazily stroked it, "this what you want?" I watched his hand move up and down his shaft, my core dripping with anticipation as I gave a nod. "Sit down and ride me then." I crawled up his lap, hovering over his erection before slowly sinking down on it, moaning as he filled me. He groaned and grabbed my hips, squeezing gently as every inch of him filled me. I waited until I was fully adjusted to his size before moving. "Yeah. Just like that, baby," he groaned, watching me move up and down on him, his eyes glued to my breast as they bounced. He placed his hands behind his head, enjoying the sight in front of him as I worked myself in a frenzy. I grabbed onto his shoulders and moaned his name as pleasure built up inside of me. "That's right, baby. Ride me just like you like it. Ride this big fucking dick," he growled, licking his lips as I moved faster. I whimpered softly as my first orgasm slowly rose inside of me. "Baron, I..." "I know. Come for me, Maria. Come all over my dick." He pulled me in for a kiss, stopping my cries of ecstasy as my walls squeezed his dick and I came, moaning into his mouth as my body shook from the aftershocks of the orgasm.

I broke the kiss and slowly rose up, rolling over to the side, gasping for air. Baron smirked before sliding down the bed, grabbing my legs and put them over his shoulders. Before I could do anything, his tongue pushed through my folds, lapping up my juices. "Baron," I gasped, tangling my fingers in his hair as he slowly began to devour me. He groaned softly, the vibrations sending shivers up and down my spine. He closed his mouth and sucked hard on my clit, causing my back to arch completely off of the bed. My hips bucked hard as I began to ride his tongue, moaning as I became lost in the pleasure. I could feel my second orgasm building as he worked his magic I whined when he removed his tongue and sat up, wiping his mouth as he smirked. "Relax, princess," he said, turning me over onto my stomach, "the fun is just beginning." He kissed down my spine slowly before trailing kisses back up, kissing my neck as I softly moaned under his touch.

He sat up and grabbed my hips, pulling me closer to him as the tip of his dick rubbed against my folds. "Ready for me," he smirked, grabbing his dick and teased my core, pushing the tip in then moved away. "Baron, please. I need you," I whined, looking back at him. He nodded and pushed himself all of the way inside of me. I buried my face into the mattress as he pulled out then slammed back inside of me before finding a steady rhythm. "Baron," I choked out, gripping the sheets and turned my head to look at him. He smirked and leaned over, licking my cheek before grabbing my wrists and pushed them down into the mattress, growling in my ear as he thrust harder inside of me. I could feel his entire body weight on me as every cell in my body screamed for more. His breath fanned my skin as he pant in my ear, groaning each time he bottomed out. He pulled out momentarily when he felt my walls squeezing him and rolled me onto my back, pushing back inside of me full speed as he held me close to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, giving in to the sweet pleasure that he was giving me. "Maria," he groaned, enjoying the view of me under him, enjoying the sight of me loving thrust, every kiss, every lick he gave me. The crystal began to glow between us and my body suddenly burned with pleasure, my appetite for Baron heightened. His hips moved so fast that it like a blur and I was no longer able to contain my screams of ecstasy and my body moved on its own, my hips meeting his each time as he groaned. Skin slapping skin and the sounds of our pleasurable moans mixed and filled the room as we melted into one. My mind became fuzzy and my vision blurred as the most intense orgasm hit and I squeezed his shoulders, arching completely off of the bed. "Oh fuck," he groaned, slowing down his thrusts as he came inside of me, groaning before collapsing on top of me, both of us breathing heavily as the light from the crystal disappeared. "Wow," I gasped as he pulled out of me, kissing my cheek. "Sorry. Got carried away," he mumbled, looking at me. I shook my head, smiling. "That was amazing. Best night ever." He raised an eyebrow, searching my face before chuckling, rolling over to lay next to me. "What's so funny?" He smiled and pulled me closer to him, kissing my forehead. "Just thinking about how much you're becoming like me more and more as time goes on," he chuckled. "Shut up," I scoffed, rolling my eyes while I fought the urge to smile. "It's not a bad thing. It makes things between us a lot better because you will be able to understand me way better than Corey." "Speaking of which, think he found a suit for the wedding that we haven't planned yet?" He sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Probably. Guess that means that I should start looking for something too. Kelly probably already have Carmella drawing ideas now for your dress." "She doesn't have to design a dress. Whatever she already have would work." "It's fine. Let them do it. It's not too often we have weddings around here. This will be a big deal since I'm the leader of this village who's going to have a queen by my side. I don't want to scare you, but this will be a big wedding, in front of the entire village. Tomorrow, I want to take you to the church where it will be held. It's traditional for our people to get married at this old church. You'll love it," he said, caressing my cheek. "Everything will be fine as long as you're by my side," I smiled, burying my face into his chest, my energy fading slowly. "I will always be by your side, my beautiful princess," he whispered as I drifted off to sleep.


	17. Special Surprise

I turned my head from side to side, trying to sleep, as something licked my face. I sighed and retreated under the covers for safety, but the mystery creature began to bark and tugged on the sheets with all its might. "Baron," I mumbled, touching the side where he would usually sleep, but came up empty. I felt something fuzzy rub against my cheek, followed by a little tongue licking me again. I sighed and threw the sheets off of me, sitting up and rubbed my eyes as the fuzzy creature climbed up on my legs. I opened my eyes and almost squealed when I saw a black and white baby wolf with blue eyes sitting on my thighs. "You're so cute," I giggled, picking it up as its tail wagged and licked my face. "What are you doing in my bed, little guy?" I set it down and watched it roll around before settling down next to me, rubbing its head against my leg. I focused my energy on trying to sense Baron's presence, but couldn't feel him anywhere near. I pout, wondering where he went as I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, getting into the shower to wash off his scent on my body. I tried to search for his presence again to no avail as I got out of the shower and dried off before getting dressed. I walked out of the bathroom and saw the wolf sitting on the bed, wagging its tail when it saw me. "Hm. I should give you a name," I giggled as it rubbed up against my stomach. It looked up at me, staring into my eyes as a name popped up in my mind. "Randi." Its tail wagged and it howled, seemingly excited about its name. "Okay. Randi it is. Let's go eat," I said, picking it up and walked out of the room. I gave up trying to sense Baron's presence as I walked down the stairs. I set Randi down and walked into the kitchen where Jack was fixing a plate. "Good morning, Lady Maria. You're just in time for breakfast," he smiled, passing me the plate as I sat at the table, Randi sitting next to me, "I see you got your gift from Baron. Named him yet?" I nodded happily as I dropped a piece of sausage on the floor. "Randi. Speaking of Baron, where is he?" "He'll be back. Don't worry. He did tell me to make sure that you eat all of your food so no more feeding Randi," Jack instructed as he grabbed a bowl and put some meat in it and set it on the floor for Randi. I nodded and began eating as Jack started today's lesson in the village history. I sighed, focusing on him while my mind wondered to where Baron could be. I nodded idly as Jack talked, processing each bit of info he gave. "Lady Maria?" I blinked and set my fork down, pushing the empty plate away from me. "I'm listening. Village protocol for intruders is to call for guards using the button thats behind the headboard in the master bedroom or under the kitchen sink, lock every door and go down into the basement and not make a sound until help comes." Jack nodded and continued to read as I struggled to remain focused.

My brain felt completely fried after the lesson in the kitchen as I walked into the living room with Randi and sat down. "Need anything to drink," Jack asked and I shook my head as I picked up my sketchbook and began to draw, "what's going to be today's drawing?" I smiled as my picture slowly came to life as I sketched away as Jack watched me, Randi laying next to me. I was so focused on drawing that I didn't hear the front door open and close until I felt a familiar presence. I looked up and jumped up, dropping my sketchbook and pencil on the table before running into the arms of my soulmate. "Hey, Maria," Baron chuckled as I buried my face into his chest. "Where have you been? I've missed you. You wasn't next to me and I couldn't sense you anywhere and you didn't leave a note," I choked up, my eyes watering as I let go of him. "Woah. Don't cry. I'm sorry. Don't cry, Maria," he panicked when he saw the state I was in. He cupped my face and kissed me, silencing my cries before hugging me, looking at Jack who simply shrugged. "Don't cry. I won't do that again. I just went out for a while. I didn't know you would react like this. I'm back now, Maria." "Why did you give me Randi?" "Who," he asked, raising an eyebrow as I walked back over to the couch, putting Randi in my lap. "Oh, him. I was told that you love animals and I have some wolf pups running around for people to have and picked him out for you. He's two months old so he was primed for the picking," Baron said, sitting next to me and petted Randi. "Thank you. That kind of makeup for you leaving me alone." He sighed then looked over at my sketchbook. "Did you draw?" I nodded as he picked up my book and opened it to the second page. "Is that..." I nodded slowly, leaning over and smiled at my picture. It was a picture of him that I drew by memory, including each tattoo. "Wow. I love it. I have to get you some paint so you can paint it and I can have it framed," he smiled, kissing my forehead. "Lady Maria always did have the skills of an artist. Though she never did anything with it, glad to see that she still has the skills," Jack said. "Don't start that again. When I was younger, he always wanted me to go to college for art or sell drawings," I giggled. "I agree. This is fantastic. And by memory? Baby, you have serious talent. I hope our children gain your abilities," he smiled, "speaking of which, did you eat breakfast?" I groaned and nodded, rolling my eyes. "Yes. Jack watched me eat every last bite. Minus one small piece of sausage that I gave to Randi." "Fine. I want to make sure you stay healthy. I'll have Michelle stop by next month to start doing checkups from now on to make sure you don't pick up any infections and keep you healthy as a wolf." "Isn't the saying 'healthy as a horse?'" "Not around here," he smirked. I shook my head at his terrible pun as he stood up. "Now we have somewhere to be. Get your coat. Jack, you don't mind watching Randi for us?" "No. Please go enjoy yourselves," Jack smiled as I walked over and put on my coat. "Where are we going?" Baron smiled and took my hand into his. "Somewhere special." I nodded as we walked outside and got into his car, the engine roaring to life before we drove away from the house.

Moments later, we pulled up in front of what seemed like a church. "Wow," I whispered as I stared at the large white castle like building as Baron parked and turned off the engine. "Come on," he said as we got out and walked inside, my eyes looking from side to side as I studied each stained glass window, each angel sculpture, the different paintings on the walls. "This is the oldest church in the village. For centuries, many weddings, christenings, and funerals have been held here," he explained as we walked down the aisle to the alter, "this building is very important to our people. I've always hoped that one day I would be able to come here with my soulmate, holding her hand just like I am now as she wears my crystal around her neck," he said, touching the crystal that rested against my chest. I smiled as the feeling of love filled me as I looked up at him. "I didn't think that I would find you in time, but by sheer luck, you arrived and I found you. Now here we are, months later and soon our little ones will begin to grow inside of you. We will have our own little family. Maria, you will finally have a loving family that you deserve. I will never leave your side ever again. I will stay by your side for as long as you need me. So, Maria," he said slowly as my vision blurred as he got down on one knee, "will you be my queen?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black box and opened it, revealing a two skull round cut black diamond skull ring. I couldn't help the tears that ran down my cheeks as I held out my hand. "Yes, Baron, yes," I said as he smiled, slipping the ring onto my finger before standing straight up and kissed me, wiping away the tears with his thumbs. "What did I say about the crying," he teased as I playfully hit his chest. "Shut up. I can cry," I giggled, rubbing my eyes and looked down at the ring, "you would get a ring like this." "Yeah. I wasn't going to go with a traditional ring. That's boring. My queen needs one of a kind which is why I was gone this morning. Had this special made. Also already have our wedding rings made as we speak." "Will those be unique?" He nodded as I smiled before the sound of clapping reached my ears. I turned and saw Corey, Kelly, Mark, and Michelle standing near the doors, watching us. "Way to go, Baron," Corey yelled, making me laugh as Baron glared at him. "You can't kill him. We're in a church," I reminded him. "I know. I'll strangle him back at home." "You can't threaten people in a church!" "I'm not. I'm threatening Corey," he chuckled, making me laugh. "I hope our children doesn't develop your dark sense of humor," I said as we walked towards our friends. "Oh, I so hope so. That would be awesome," he chuckled as Kelly walked up and hugged me. "I'm so happy for you two. I never thought I would see the day that Baron gets engaged. You and I will have to get with Carmella to design your dress. This is so exciting," she said, looking at my ring. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that I'm happy for you," Mark said, shaking Baron's hand, "the future will be in safe hands as you two as its leaders. I also hear that we may have a little one running around soon?" Baron threw Corey a death stare, causing him to shrink back as I smiled. "Yes. That's true, except it may be twins or even triplets since they run in my family." Mark took my hand and kissed it. "Well, I wish you nothing but the best. Michelle will take great care of you." "That's right. I've helped many women throughout their pregnancy and even delivered a few babies, so you will be in great hands. Now, how Baron acts throughout your pregnancy is out of my control. Alphas can be a little overbearing sometimes," she chuckled. "I won't be overbearing, I promise," he said, rubbing my head. "Famous last words. Maria, Alphas will freak out over every little thing. Just wait until the mood swings begin. He's going to be in trouble," Michelle smirked. "She's right. Our first pregnancy had me all over the place just trying to keep her happy. It was a nightmare. A joy to have our daughter, but a total nightmare. Of course, in your case, you may have it worse than anyone. Twins and triplets are very rare for our people so this will be a new experience for all of us. Now, Maria, I do expect you to stay as healthy as possible. Also, feel free to drive Baron as crazy as you want," Mark chuckled. "Okay! Thanks for being here. Everyone can leave now," Baron said, clearing his throat as everyone hugged and congratulated us before leaving. "That was fun," I giggled as Baron placed his hands on my hips. "Yeah. Don't listen to Mark about the driving me crazy part." I shook my head, smiling at him. "He's the boss so I have to listen." He rolled his eyes and kissed my forehead. "Today starts the beginning of our lives together. You, me, our little ones, Randi, and even Jack, who would make a great uncle to our little cubs." "Babies," I corrected him. "Wolf babies." I sighed, knowing that I wouldn't win this argument which made him smile. "If a year ago, someone had told me that I would be engaged to my soulmate and expecting little ones, I wouldn't believe them. Now here I am, sane, happy, soon to be father, standing with my beautiful princess who will soon take her rightful place as my queen. We have the entire world ahead of us. I'm so glad that Chris found you that day because I don't think I would still be here if it wasn't for you. Thank you for entering my life, my world. Thank you for staying by my side. And most importantly, thank you for being the savior of my dark soul." Tears streamed down my cheeks as I looked at the man that I have fallen so madly in love with. "I will always be here with you. I will always be by your side just as you stand by mine. Thank you for saving me from a world that I didn't want to belong to anymore. Thank you for loving a broken woman like me. Thank you for being the glue that put me back together. I'm ready to spend all of eternity with you. I'm ready for our future together." He smiled as he wiped away my tears, leaning down and pressed his soft lips against mine, the official seal of the start of a new future together. He was my savior from misery. I was his savior from total insanity and damnation. Two halves of a broken soul found their way to each other and managed to put the pieces together to become whole again. He will always be my king and I will always be his queen, living in a world filled with monsters and creatures who try to tear others apart, but our love will help us to survive anything that threatens our love and happiness.


	18. Month One

A month went by since we became engaged and the pregnancy symptoms began. Baron tried his hardest to help me whenever he could, but my hormones and mood swings were through the roof. One minute, I whining about wanting him to hold me. Next minute, I'm ready to slap him if he even breath in my general direction. I was very grateful that he was patient with me as the beginning stages of motherhood began. I hopped out of bed and quickly walked into the bathroom, shutting the door before vomiting into the toilet. "I'm so over morning sickness," I mumbled as I flushed the toilet and rinsed out my mouth. This has been my routine for weeks now, eat, sleep, vomit, repeat and I was completely drained. I walked out of the bathroom and noticed that Baron had left, which became his routine, being left with Randi who was wagging his tail. I growled as I picked him up and walked out of our bedroom and headed downstairs to the kitchen. "Good morning, Lady Maria. How are you feeling," Jack greeted me happily as he pulled up my chair so I could sit down, putting Randi down. "Miserable and pissed off. Where's my loving fiance," I asked, putting my head down. "Hmm. I think I heard him mumble something about going to the store. Would you like some soup and ginger ale to help with the nausea?" "Yes, please. I love you forever." "I know," he chuckled and began to prepare the soup. I sighed and shut my eyes, accidentally dozing off at the table. I woke up moments later when the smell of the soup filled the kitchen. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, looking over at Jack. "You dozed off on me. Are you getting enough sleep, Lady Maria?" "I try, but I having to get up to puke my guts out." Jack fixed me a bowl of soup and sat it in front of me before going into the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of ginger ale and returned to the table, sliding the bottle to me. "Thank you," I said before picking up my spoon and began eating. "Other than those, are you feeling okay? You look more plae than usual," he said, staring at me. "Yeah. I'm okay." He nodded as Baron walked in with arms full of bags. "How's my little princess feeling today," he smiled. I smiled at him before returning to eating my soup as he sat the bags on the counter. Jack got up and peeked inside a few of the bags. "Do you think that you bought enough ice cream and pickles," he asked as he started putting groceries away. "Wait. You bought ice cream," I asked, putting my spoon down after finishing my soup. "Of course. I know all about the cravings so I'm getting a head start," he smirked, walking over to me and kissed my forehead. "You're awesome. Can I have one now?" "Lady Maria, maybe you should wait to make sure that you can keep the soup down first," Jack said. "Please," I begged, looking up at Baron with puppy dog eyes. "One wouldn't hurt," he said and fixed me a bowl. "Thank you," I smiled happily as he petted my head. Jack shook his head as he watched me eat happily. "Spoiling her won't make life easier for you." Baron shrugged as I stood up and put away my bowls, sipping my ginger ale as I walked into the living room and laid on the couch, Randi laying in front of me. I petted him slowly until I dozed off once again.

"Now that she's once again asleep, how are you handling all of this," Jack asked Baron. "I honestly don't know what to do. Her mood swings have been out of control. I've been trying to be loving and supportive, but sometimes she just gets into one of those moods and I'm afraid to even be in the room with her. I just hope she doesn't like yell at someone if they stop by or something. What can I do? I've been reading stuff online and tried doing research, but she's not human so symptoms may be different." "Okay, first off, you need to relax and breathe. Just be there for her. Give her a massage. Bring her snacks. Just make her as comfortable as possible. As far as the mood swings, just bare with her," Jack said. "You're right. She's probably just as scared and nervous as I am," he sighed. "She is, but she's trying her best to remain as relax and call as possible so you don't get worried." Baron looked over at me and sighed. "She should focus on herself, not me," he chuckled. "That's Lady Maria for you. Always putting others before herself. Selfless as always." "That's what I love about her. Selfless, loving, sweet." "Slowly turning into a female you," Jack added. "That too. She's just so perfect. I hope I can keep her happy." "You will. As much as she loves talking about you to me, she's very happy with you." Baron raised an eyebrow. "Wait what does she say?" Jack chuckled and shook his head. "You will have to ask her one day. What we talk about with each other, stays between us." Baron sighed. "Thanks a lot."

I sat up and used my powers to transport to the bathroom when my stomach began to do flips. I pushed my hair back before I began to throw up. "I want the sickness to be over," I whined and flushed, rinsing out my mouth and stared at myself in the mirror. I was as pale as a ghost and my hair was practically to the middle of my back. I opened up the cabinet and grabbed a pair of scissors. I brushed my hair, untangling it before I began to cut it, my long locks falling into the sink and onto the floor. I kept cutting until I finally got it into a cute bob and cleaned up my hair. "Looks great," I smiled, combing my hair, "hm. I wonder..." I concentrated real hard until streaks of red appeared in my hair. "Perfect." I smiled before walking out and returned to the living room where Baron and Jack were sitting with Randi chewing on his bone. "Wow. Your hair looks lovely, Lady Maria," Jack smiled as I sat next to Baron. "Thank you," I said before looking over at Baron who stared. "Looks good, but I would've cut it for you." I raised an eyebrow. "You don't even cut your own hair. Why would I let you cut mine?" He chuckled as I laid down across his lap. "Just trying to be helpful." "I appreciate that, but cutting my hair is off limits. I don't care what you do, but cutting my hair will never happen." "Fine," he chuckled and massaged my hip, moving his hand up to my stomach, rubbing it slowly. I sighed content with my current situation as Randi hopped onto the couch and laid on my legs. "Aw. This is perfect for a picture," Jack said and pulled out a camera, snapping a picture of us. "We'll have that developed and framed. Maybe hang it in the study," Baron said as the front door opened and in walked Kelly and Corey. "Hey, awesome people," Kelly greeted. "Hey everyone. Woah. Maria, did you cut your hair? Kind of weird to see you with short hair," Corey chuckled. I looked over and gave him a death stare, making him hid behind Kelly. "That's my girl," Baron chuckled proudly and petted me. "Wow. Maria, since it's such a nice day and the weather is perfect, how about we go for a walk? Beats just laying around all day," Kelly said. "Sure. Sounds perfect. Randi, want to go for a walk?" The eager wolf jumped off the couch and ran to the door, sitting patiently as I stood up. "Why do you suddenly want to go out? All month, you've been sleeping and eating. You can walk around here," Baron said, grabbing my wrist. I glared at him and he immediately let me go. "Have fun," he smiled. "Take some ginger ale with you, Lady Maria. Just in case," Jack said. "Okay," I smiled at Jack before walking into the kitchen to grab a bottle of ginger ale and water while the others looked at each other. "Wow. This is only the first month," Corey said. "Can you survive the other eight if her mood swings are this bad in the first month," Kelly asked and Baron shrugged. "As long as Jack is here, I think I can manage," he chuckled. "Yeah. I can handle it and try to keep her under control," Jack sighed as I returned with a small black backpack. "Ready to go," I asked Kelly and she nodded. "See you boys later," she said as we stepped outside.

"Today is a beautiful day. Thanks for inviting me out," I said as we walked far away from the mansion. "No problem. I've just missed seeing your beautiful face and wanted to catch up," she said as Randi walked in front of us, "so how's the pregnancy going?" "Where do I even begin," I sighed, "I'm hot one minute then cold the next. I want Baron to hold me then I want him far away from me. He probably thinks I'm crazy." She shook her head, putting a hand on my shoulder. "He's just trying his best to be by your side. You're both going to be first time parents and I'm sure he's freaking out just as much as you, except since he's supposed to be big and bad, he's not showing it. Just be patient and everything will be okay." "Eight months to go," I chuckled as I looked down at my stomach. "Speaking of which, what are you hoping for? Girl or boy?" I smiled, looking over at her. "Do you really think Baron could handle having a little girl, especially when she becomes a teenager and wants to start dating?" She laughed, shaking her head. "Good point. He would strangle every guy that looks at his daughter. I hope you have a little boy. Or boys if you have more than one. Little Barons running around would be so cute!" "Oh can you just imagine how happy he would be? He'll be ready to teach them all about motorcycles and hunting." "And how to beat up everyone that looks at them the wrong away." We laughed as we continued our walk until we ended up at Carmella's store. "Surprise," I giggled when we walked in. "There's my doll face," she giggled as she ran up and hugged me, "I missed you. First off, congrats on both the engagement and pregnancy. Second, how you doin? Third, love the new hairstyle." "Besides being sick all of the time, I'm great. I missed you too. Thank you. It was time for a change. I missed working here, but Baron wants me to take it easy." "You better. I don't feel like beating him up for having you work here while pregnant," she teased as I took a sip of my ginger ale. "Yeah. He has to deal with these mood swings and so far, I think he's scared of me, but he's trying to be supportive which I love." "Good because I'll beat him up if he doesn't help you in your time of need." Kelly and I laughed at her as we chatted and went out for lunch together before Kelly, Randi, and I returned to the mansion late that evening.

"We're back," she said time we walked through the doors . Randi ran inside and returned to chewing on his bone as Baron scooped me up into his arms. "Baron," I giggled as he carried me to the couch and sat me down in his lap. "Had fun today," he asked, removing my backpack and rubbed my back. "Yeah. We stopped by Carmella's shop and went out to dinner. The nausea went away and I haven't thrown up since this morning. I guess getting out of here for a while was exactly what I needed," I shrugged, leaning against him. "As long as you had fun today then that's all that matters to me," he said, kissing my cheek. "Now that I have my wife back, let's get going," Corey said, putting his arm around Kelly. "Thanks for today, Kelly," I said, getting up and hugged her, "sorry for stealing her from you today." "It's fine. You two have become close like sisters. It's nice," Corey said and hugged me, "try not to drive him crazy or wait until I come back," he whispered and I laughed. I walked them to the door and waved as they flew away. I shut the door and walked back over to Baron. "So you had a little girl's day? That's good. Nice to see you smiling again," he said as I got back in his lap. "Where's Jack?" "He went out for the night. Something about wanting to do some research so I gave him keys to the library. Why? Do you need him?" I shook my head and buried my face in the crook of his neck. "I'm sorry for acting so strange lately," I said, looking at him. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me, kissing my cheek. "It's just your hormones are all screwed up. It's okay. We're one month in. We can do this. I just can't wait to meet our offspring." "Kelly asked me what I'm hoping for and I told her a little boy because if you had a daughter you would fight every guy that even looks at her." "Damn right I would, especially if she's as beautiful as her mother," he smirked, kissing me. "You'll have your sons riding motorcycles in no time,"I giggled, nuzzling into his neck. "You know me so well. One month down. Eight more to go. We can do this," he whispered, pulling me into another kiss.


	19. Month Two

I let out a soft whine as I sat on the floor in front of the toilet. The nausea had gotten worse and I was urinating more frequently. My breast were tender to the touch and I was overall cranky which ran off Baron to do who knows what. I sighed and stood up, walking over to the sink and cleaned up. I walked out of the bathroom to the usual sight of Randi laying in the bed, wagging his tail. "I'm glad that one of us is happy at least," I mumbled and climbed back into bed, Randi resting his head on my legs. The room was spinning and all I wanted to do was stay in bed, not moving a muscle as I tried to relax. Randi let out a soft whine and pressed his nose against my back. "I'm okay. I just need some rest," I sighed, rolling over and opened my arms as the medium sized wolf crawled up and laid next to me, allowing me to rest my chin on top of his head. Randi has become my main comfort during this time after I've run off Baron with my mood swings or when I have to ask him to go to the store for me. "Thank you for being by my side, Randi. You're such a good boy." Randi wagged his tail as the door opened and Baron walked. "This is adorable," he smiled as he walked over and sat on the bed, "how's my princess feeling? Sick and dizzy?" "Yeah. I think I need more soup or something," I sighed as Randi jumped out of my arms and off the bed, walking out of the room, "thanks a lot." Baron scooped me up into his lap and I laid my head on his chest. "Room spinning," I mumbled, hugging him. "That's why I came in. I need you to take something. Don't worry. It's perfectly safe," he said as he reached behind him and grabbed a bottle and spoon, opening the bottle and poured the mystery liquid in the spoon before holding it out to me. I frowned as a string scent hit my nostrils and I shook my head. "I don't want it." "Baby, please. It will make you feel better." "No," I said, turning my head when he tried to force the spoon in my mouth. "Stop acting like a big baby," he chuckled. "I'm not taking that!" I heard a low growl from him and turned around to glare at him. He grabbed my jaw and forced my mouth open, shoving the spoon in my mouth and pulled it out, keeping my mouth shut as the liquid went down my throat. I frowned as a nasty taste lingered on my tongue and I shivered. "I'm sorry, but you needed to take that," he said, rubbing my back. I stared at him in silence, my earlier symptoms seemingly to disappear. "Wow. It went away. I feel better. Where did you get that stuff?" "Michelle said that was what she took and she didn't have to worry about feeling nauseated and dizzy." I resituated myself in his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I'm sorry for being such a brat lately." "Don't, baby. It's just the hormones affecting you. I've just been trying to find anything to make you comfortable. Also, I've been baby proofing downstairs." I raised an eyebrow as he picked me up and carried me out of the bedroom and towards the stairs. "Put up a little gate here and at the bottom of the stairs," he pointed out to me as we went downstairs and I noticed that different parts of the rooms had carpeting. "Wow. I'm impressed," I said as he set me down so I could look around. "Thanks. In a few months, once we know the gender or genders, I'll paint one of the rooms upstairs and have it changed into a baby room. I hope you at least have one boy so I can buy him all of the toy cars," he chuckled, kissing the top of my head. Jack walked in and smiled at us. "Dinner is ready. I had to change up some ingredients so Lady Maria doesn't get sick and to make sure the scent doesn't bother her." "Thank you so much, Jack. You're the best," I said, walking up to him and gave him a hug. "You're welcome. Once you're done eating, I will accompany you to your fitting at Miss Carmella's shop." I raised an eyebrow and looked over at Baron. "Fitting?" He smiled and nodded, taking my hand and led me into the kitchen where a dinner of beef stew, rice, baked potatoes and green beans had been prepared. "For our wedding, baby. I know that you said that you didn't want to get married when you're showing, although I think you will look beautiful either way," he said as he helped me with my chair, "so I think next month, we should get married." I picked up my spoon and began eating, sighing happily at the delicious flavors that filled my mouth. "You want to get married next month? Will that be okay," I asked and he nodded. "As long as we're getting married, anytime will be the best time. I've been planning everything while you've been on bed rest. Your ring is complete and just waiting to be placed on that beautiful finger of yours. Kelly and Carmella have been working on your dress, which by the way will not be the traditional white dress. This village is all about being unique and untraditional so it will be one of a kind. We will get married at that church in front of the village and then we will wait for our little one or ones to come into our world and greet us." I smiled as he placed his hand on my stomach, a gentle smile on his face. "Are you excited for this," I asked, putting my hand on top of his. "Of course I am. I've always wanted to be a father and now I will. I'm nervous, but I'll get over it as long as I get to hold you and our offspring in my arms," he said, kissing my cheek. I smiled to myself as we enjoyed our dinner together, chatting about wedding plans and baby room ideas.

After dinner, Jack drove me to Carmella's shop and walked me inside. "Hey, gorgeous," Carmella greeted me and hugged me, "you're right on time for your fitting. We've already took your soon to be growing belly so the midsection will be stretchy to accommodate it." Kelly walked out, smiling at me. "There's the lady of the hour. Now I need you to trust me and let me put the blindfold on you." I raised an eyebrow and looked at the two. "I can't even look at my dress until I put it on?" Kelly giggled as she walked behind me and tied the blindfold on and grabbed my hand. "Right this way." "I'm sure that you will look lovely," Jack called out to me as Kelly walked me to the dressing room. "Now remove your clothes and I'll happily put this dress on you." I nodded and used my powers to remove my clothes before Kelly helped me into the dress. It felt soft to the touch and the bottom felt so free. Kelly walked me out of the dressing room and back into the front of the store. "Wow. That is amazing," Jack said when he saw the dress. "Let's get you up here," Kelly said, guiding me towards what felt like a platform then turned me. "I'm so excited for you to see this," Carmella squealed as Kelly removed the blindfold and I saw my reflection.

"This is amazing," I gasped as I spun around. The dress was black and red, strapless, a corset style top and flowing at the bottom. "So I'm guessing thats a yes to the dress," Carmella giggled. "Um yeah. Definitely in love with this dress," I smiled, staring at myself in the mirror. "You look lovely, Lady Maria," Jack complimented, "you're going to make a beautiful bride." Carmella walked around me, touching up sections of the dress before Kelly held up two veils, one red and one black. "So I'm thinking that which veil you pick the bottom will be the other color," Carmella explained as I looked at the veils. "Hm. I think I'll go with the red one," I said and she nodded as Kelly placed it on me, "this is absolutely perfect. Wow." I stared at myself in the mirror, my eyes watering. "What's wrong," Kelly asked as she removed the veil. "It's just hard to believe that next month, I'm going to be Mrs. Maria Corbin and I will be a mother in eight months. I never thought I would see the day," I sighed, wiping the tears away as I used my powers to switch out the dress for my clothes, handing the dress to Carmella. "Believe, sista because it's happening," Carmella giggled as she hung the dress up, "and we will be there for you. Since you don't have family here and you probably haven't been around too many other women here, we will be your bridesmaids." "Really? You don't mind?" Kelly wrapped her arms around me. "Of course not. If we did, we never would've designed your dress or have been helping Baron with decorations and seating charts and getting the catering." "Wait. Baron has been doing all of that?" Carmella giggled and nodded her head. "Yep. Jack too. While you've been stuck in the mansion, all of us have been planning this wedding right under your nose." I looked over at Jack who smiled. "They're right. Master Corbin wanted this to be the wedding of your dreams and recruited our help." "Thank you. Thank all of you for everything. It means a lot to me. Jack, I'm ready to go home. I need to talk to Baron." Jack nodded as I hugged Kelly and Carmella before we exited the store and he drove us back home.

I walked inside and looked around for Baron. I heard hammering in the distance and followed the sound until I spotted him in the hallway. I walked up to him and stood next to him until he finally looked at me. "How was the fitting," he asked, putting the hammer down. I crooked a finger, smiling when he leaned over. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips against his. "What was that for," he asked, picking me up. "For being the best fiance ever. You're planning the wedding while I'm here. I don't deserve you." He chuckled and hugged me. "I don't deserve you. I just want you to have your dream wedding, baby. Did you like the dress? I don't know what it look like, but I'm sure it's beautiful." I nodded as he set me down. "It's so beautiful. I can't wait for you to see it. Now what are you doing anyways?" "Hanging up a sign." I looked at the door and smiled at the yellow sign that said Baby Room on it. "It's perfect," I giggled, hugging him as he kissed the top of my head. "I'm trying. I'm ready to find out what we're having. I've never been so excited for anything in my life. Now we wait for next month when I take you as my wife." "I can't wait to be your wife and the mother of your children. I won't disappoint you." He raised an eyebrow and picked me up once more, carrying me to our bedroom, locking the door behind us. "You will never disappoint me, Maria. I don't want you to stress yourself out on trying to be perfect for me. I love you just the way you are." He carried me to the bed as our clothes disappeared as he laid me down, hovering over me. He kissed my stomach lovingly, smiling at me before kissing me, using his knee to spread my legs so he could sink down further onto me. "I love you, Maria. I can't wait to build a future, a kingdom with you," he whispered before pushing himself inside of me. "I love you too, Baron," I moaned, wrapping my arms around his neck as he thrusted inside of me. His lips pressed against the vein in my neck, sucking hard on my tender flesh as I moaned his name. "You're so beautiful, Maria," he grunted out as he slammed into me. "Baron!" My hips moved on their own as my orgasm rose inside of me. "That's right, baby. Say my name," he growled, snapping his hips. "Baron! Oh Baron! I love you!" He threw his head back and growled as his thrusts became sporadic and we came together. He pulled out of me and wrapped his arms around me, laying me on top of him. "I love you, Baron. I love you so much," I whispered as he rubbed my back. "I know, baby. I love you too. I can't wait to start our little family with you. Next month, we take the most important step of our lives, marriage." I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Looking forward to it. I can't wait to be Mrs. Maria Corbin." "I like the way that sounds," he smiled, kissing my forehead, "You're going to be the most beautiful bride ever. Our life together is just getting started."


	20. Month Three Wedding Day

Next month felt like it flew by and now it was time for the most important day of my life, a day I will never forget. I sighed and looked down at my small baby bump that was somewhat hidden in my wedding dress as I sat in front of the mirror. "You nervous," Carmella asked as she worked on my hair. "That or I'm going to throw up," I joked as Kelly stepped up next to me and touched up my makeup. "Don't do that. I'll have to redo your lipstick," Kelly giggled. "No worries. I'm not going to throw up. I'm just nervous about the entire thing." "Relax. You will be fine. I was just like you when I got married to Cass, minus the bundle of joy in my stomach. You have a cute little tummy though," Carmella teased as she put the veil on my head. "Thanks. I'm already in the crying my eyes out and asking Baron if he still thinks I'm pretty phase so he's enjoying that right now," I giggled and stood up. Carmella held up a camera and snapped away, motioning me to turn around so I could model the dress and veil when someone knocked at the door. "Everyone decent in there," Jack called out to us. "Yes, come on," I replied as he opened the door and walked in, smiling when he looked at me. "You look absolutely stunning, Lady Maria. Are you almost ready? It's about time and I don't think Corey and the others can keep Master Baron relaxed," he chuckled. I took one last look at myself in the mirror. My hair was perfectly placed, my makeup was perfect, my earrings and necklace were shining in the light. I took a deep breath before turning around and looked at the others. "I'm ready." Jack nodded and conjured up a bouquet of flowers, wrapped with a red bow and handed it to me before conjuring up matching bouquets for Carmella and Kelly. "Let's get this started," Carmella said. "But first, we need a picture together," Kelly said. I nodded and Carmella handed the camera to Jack. "All together. Beautiful smiles and..." Jack snapped the picture of us before setting the camera down. Carmella and Kelly walked out of the room first as Jack put the veil over my face. "Any sweet words to help me relax," I smiled, looking up at him. "You're about to marry the man of your dreams and you will finally have a family who loves you," he smiled at me, "you will never be alone ever again. You will never feel that loneliness ever again, Lady Maria. You have a new family now. Everyone in the village will love and support you. You will be a great queen and with the support of Master Baron and myself, you will be successful." "Thank you, Jack, for everything," I smiled as he extended his arm to me and I gladly accepted it as we walked out.

The sound of an organ and people talking filled my ears as we walked down the hall towards large double doors. "Time to start your new life," Jack said and tapped on the door. The sound of people talking stopped and only the organ was heard as I took a deep breath. The doors creaked as they slowly opened and my eyes immediately connected to Baron, who smiled as all eyes were on me. "Your future husband awaits," Jack whispered before he slowly led me down the aisle towards the alter. Carmella, Kelly, and Michelle were all standing opposite of Baron, Cass and Mark, smiling at me as I made my way to the alter. Jack helped me up the stairs and walked away once I was next to Baron. He turned my veil back, smiling as he looked at me. "You look absolutely gorgeous," he mouth those words as I handed Michelle my bouquet and held his hand as we turned to Steve. "Bet you didn't know that I used to be a priest," he chuckled before clearing his throat, "today, we've all gathered here to not only to witness the joining of Baron Corbin and Maria Alexander, but to crown our new queen of our village. I'm positive that no one will object to this union," he chuckled, making everyone laugh. Baron gave my hand a gentle squeeze before we faced each other. "Maria, you're the love of my life. The only woman I would ever want. The only woman who's willing to put up with me and who can handle the craziness in my life. I'm so glad that you came here. I'm so glad that we met. I'm glad that we fell in love and now we're here, in love and soon we will be parents. I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you. I will always be here for you and I know that you will always be here for me. I love you now and I will love you for all of eternity." I fought back tears as he kissed my hand, smiling at me. "I came from a rough home, not knowing if I'm worth loving or worth any man's time. I came here doing soul searching and I ended up finding you, the light in my life. You're my savior and I will always be grateful. Thank you for putting me back together and teaching me how to love. I love you and I'm happy to start a wonder family with you." "Now for the rings," Steve said and Jack stepped up with two rings, passing them to him. "These rings symbolizes eternal love and once they're on, the connection between you two will be fused and your souls will be joined for all of eternity." He passed us the rings before he continued speaking. "Baron, if you truly mean that this is meant to be and you're willing to bind your soul to Maria, then place that ring on her finger and say the words 'I now claim you as my soulmate'." Baron took a deep breath as he held my hand. "I now claim you as my soulmate," he repeated, sliding a Black Princess Cut Created Black Diamond with Amethyst Sidestone Four Skull Ring onto my finger, warmth and comfort flooded my body as I looked up at him. "Now, Maria, repeat the words." "I now claim you as my soulmate," I said sliding the black ring on his finger. "Before you two make out like animals, there's one more thing," Steve said, nodding his head. Carmella stepped up behind me and removed my veil as Michelle and Mark stood in front of us, Michelle holding a crown. "We've treated you as if you were one of our own for years now, Baron," Mark said, staring at him, "we've taught you just about everything you know and now it's time for you to pass down the knowledge. It is not time for you to take your rightfully place on the throne and take full control of the village." He held up a ring that had a red gem on the top. "This ring has been passed down from generation to generation and now it is your turn to wear it with pride. The symbol of a true leader and the symbol of a king." Baron took the ring and placed it on his finger next to his wedding band. "I won't let you down," he said and gave Mark a stern handshake. "Maria," Michelle smiled at me, "this crown has also been passed down to every first lady to ever help rule this village. I know that you will be amazing while you're next to your king. I look forward to seeing what you can help bring to the village to help it grow." I lowered myself so she could place the crown in my hair then hugged her. "Take care of everyone, but most importantly, take care of Baron and your little one," she whispered to me. We parted and she and Mark returned to their spots as Steve smiled at us. "Now by the powers invested in me, I officially announced the new King and Queen of our village, Maria and Baron Corbin. You may now kiss your queen." Baron cupped my face and smiled before pressing our lips together as the crowd clapped.

Baron and I walked down the aisle, hand in hand as everyone clapped and cheered us on, Enzo being the loudest person in the room. "You're going to love the reception," Baron chuckled as we walked to the limo, "first, let's get changed and then we will head over there. Carmella has a comfortable dress that you can wear at home." I nodded as he helped me into the limo and climbed in behind me and immediately kissed me repeatedly. "Baron, my lipstick," I giggled as the limo pulled off from the curb. "Sorry. I'm just so glad that you're all mine," he chuckled then placed his hand on my stomach, "well, for now at least. I'm ready to know what we're having." "Be patient. Michelle will let us know when she checks me next time. I just need to keep moving and take my prenatal vitamins and make sure that I'm healthy. We will know everything soon." He kissed my forehead, smiling. "Everything is so wonderful now. Nothing can go wrong. I just know it." I smiled and kissed him again as we rode back to our home.

Baron helped me inside and immediately scooped me up into his arms as he carried me upstairs. "I think you will love the dress. Something simple to keep you comfortable," he said as he carried me into the bedroom and put me down. There was a black dress with a slit on the right side and lace sleeves. "I do love it. It's cute," I smiled as he took the crown off of my head and unzipped my dress, "thank you." "No problem, beautiful," he smirked, kissing my shoulder blade slowly. "Baron, everyone is waiting for us at the reception," I giggled as he kissed my neck. "I'll be quick. I just need you now," he groaned and turned me around, picking me up and let the dress slide off of me, careful to not let it hit the floor. "Well, you do look great in your tux," I smirked as he hung up my dress then laid me down on the bed, hurriedly unzipping his pants and pulled them down with his boxers. He grabbed his dick and moved my panties to the side before burying himself inside of me, thrusting fast. My heightened senses made his movements more pleasurable with each powerful thrust. "Baron! I love you so much!" "I love you too, Maria. Now and always," he grunted out as we made love.

"We're going to have so many people asking questions," I mumbled, fixing my makeup as Baron smirked at me while we rode to the reception. "I had an itch. Couldn't be help. You felt sick again. You needed help in your dress," he shrugged, rubbing my thigh, "which by the way, looks amazing on you." "Thank you," I giggled as we pulled up in front of a large building, cars parked all over the place. "Let the fun begin," he chuckled as the driver held open the door for us and we walked inside. Music was playing and everyone was around chatting, dancing and eating as we walked in. "There's the newlyweds," Enzo yelled, walking over to us and pulled me in for a hug. "Enzo," I giggled as he started dancing. "What took you two so long to get here anyway?" I looked up at Baron who simple smirked. "She got sick. Pregnancy has been kicking her butt lately, but she's okay now." "Speaking of which, you two know what you're having yet? Uncle Zo is ready to spoil some kids," he chuckled. "Not yet, but I'll definitely let you know what we're having when we find out," I giggled. "Let's get you something to eat," Baron said, putting his hand on the small of my back. "Now you're speaking my language!" We waved at Enzo before Baron took me over to a table that was for us and helped me into my seat. "I'll go get you one of everything," he teased, kissing my cheek. I rolled my eyes and looked around at the different guests. "Hey, beautiful," Paige greeted me and gave me a hug, "you looked so amazing in your dress. I can't wait for my wedding. I hope I have a dress as beautiful as yours." "Thanks. It was a Carmella Original so you definitely should talk to her." "Trust me, I will. Now when are all of us girls getting together for the baby shower?" My eyes widened when she said the words "baby shower" and my mind went to overdrive. "I haven't even thought about a baby shower since I became pregnant," I admitted and she placed a hand on my shoulder. "Relax, pumpkin. That's why you have friends. We will plan your shower for you. We can get together at your mansion, open gifts and have lots of snacks, wine for us and grape juice for you." I giggled and nodded. "Fine. You can plan it. Maybe we should also have a big reveal party before the baby shower, once we find out what we're having." She nodded and hugged me. "Congratulations again on your wedding," she said before walking away. Baron returned with two plates overflowing with food and sat down next to me. "Jack will bring our drinks in a second. Go ahead and start eating," he said, setting a plate down in front of me. "Like you have to tell me twice," I giggled and immediately started eating. "What did Paige want? I saw her over here when I walked away." "Oh yeah. She was asking about the baby shower which I completely forgot about. Can we use the mansion for it?" "Go right ahead, baby. I won't get in the way. You girls have fun and make sure that they bring great gifts," he teased. "Also," I smiled, looking at him, "I think we should do a big gender reveal party. I remember seeing online different ways couples revealed the sex of the baby to friends and family and I think that's a cute idea." "Whatever my queen wants, she gets. First, we need to find out if you're having more than one before we do anything else. Not being rude or anything like that and I'm no specialist, but by that look of your stomach, I think you're having twins." He placed his hand on my baby bump, rubbing slowly. "Twins, huh? Well, we will see next month," I giggled as Jack walked over with our drinks. "Here you go. Lady Maria, do you need anything else," he asked, looking at my half eaten plate. "No. I'm fine. Thank you, Jack." He bowed before walking away and disappeared into the crowd. "I told him that he didn't have to work. That's why I hired servers," Baron chuckled, shaking his head. "Leave him be. He's just being helpful. He's not one to relax too much, especially during events," I chuckled as I finished eating. "I hope you have room for the cake," he chuckled as I sipped on my grape juice. "Trust me. I have plenty of room for a lot more." He leaned over and kissed my cheek, smiling at me. "I never thought that I would be so happy. I have my woman and soon, my offspring will be in my arms. Life couldn't be any better. I love you, Maria." "I love you too, Baron," I said and kissed him. I couldn't believe that I would ever love someone as much as I love Baron and I know he loves me just as much. I looked around and saw many faces that had became my friends, even family to me. I leaned against him as music played and people were dancing. Baron rubbed my side and kissed the top of my head as we enjoyed the music. "Hey! Now it's time for the first dance of the king and queen," Enzo yelled as a spotlight shine on us. "I'm going to kill him," Baron muttered under his breath. "Calm down. He's right. We do have a dance to do," I giggled and stood up. "Are you sure? You don't have to," he said, standing up behind me and took my hand. "Let's go. Just one dance won't hurt. I'll be okay." He nodded and took my hand, leading me to the dancefloor.

All eyes were on us as we stood face to face as the music changed to a slow song. I smiled up at Baron as he placed his hand on the small of my back and grabbed my hand before we found a rhythm and we were in sync. It felt like the world had disappeared and we were the only beings that existed as we became lost in each other's eyes. "My beautiful queen, my soulmate. I love you so much," he whispered. "My handsome king, my soulmate. I love you too," I smiled as the song came to an end and we received a standing ovation. Baron looked around before taking my hand and led me to the table where a black and red cake was placed. "Yay cake," I blurted out to him, making him chuckle. "Yep. Time to cut it." Jack and a few other men walked up, holding cameras as Baron handed me a large knife then placed his hand on top of mine, holding the knife with me. "Ready," he asked me, holding the knife out towards the cake. I nodded as we sliced into the cake, cameras flashing around us. We cut a piece and slid it onto a plate, cutting another piece and put it on a plate. We each picked up a plate and fork, digging into the cake before feeding each other as everyone clapped. Everything about today was the greatest day of my life, surrounded by people I love and who love me. This will be one day I will never forget and I get to share it with the man I love and I couldn't be happier.


	21. Month Four

"Lady Maria, you need to calm down!" Jack held me as I cried in his arms. "What do you mean, calm down? It's true," I said in between cries, burying my face into his chest. "Lady Maria, it was just a dream. That's all it was. Master Baron loves you no matter what. You're married to him. It's okay." I shook my head, stepping back slightly. "Look at me. I look horrible. My stomach is getting huge already and I'm only four months pregnant," I whined, wiping my eyes. "You're beautiful! You have to remember that you're carrying a child, well, maybe children. You really should calm down, Lady Maria." I hugged him again, burying my face into his chest once more as my cries filled the room. The front door opened and closed, causing me to calm down slightly. "Hey, Jack. How's Maria doing," Baron called out then looked over at us as Jack stared at him in fear. I let go of Jack and walked over to Baron, hugging him and wiped my face on his shirt. "Hey. What's the matter," he asked, putting his hand on top of my head. "She had a dream that you will leave her because of the weight gain. You can handle it from here. I have things to do. Bye!" Jack hurried out of the house without giving Baron the chance to ask him anything else. "Baby, calm down, please," Baron said, rubbing my back. "Please don't leave me. Please," I begged, looking up at him. "I'm not going anywhere, silly. You're my wife for a reason. I love you no matter what. This weight gain is just temporary. Even now, I think you're the sexiest woman around," he smiled, rubbing my cheeks with his thumbs. I looked up at him with tears still in my eyes. "I love you, Maria. Always have and always will. That's just the hormones talking. I'm not going anywhere." He pressed his lips against mine for a long time, melting all of my worries away. I smiled at him when we finally broke apart. "Feel better?" I nodded and hugged him. "I'm sorry. You probably think I'm crazy," I giggled. "Yeah. Crazy about me," he smirked. I rolled my eyes as someone knocked on the door. "Time for your appointment." I conjured up a wet cloth and cleaned off my face as he walked to the door and opened it.

Michelle walked in, smiling at me. "There's our lovely queen," she said, walking over and hugged me, "how are you feeling?" "Tired, hungry, hot, cranky, and miserable," I chuckled as Baron went down to the basement. "So completely normal then," she chuckled, "it's time to check on you and finally see what's going on in there." Baron returned with a table and a monitor, setting it up in the living room. "Don't want you going down in the basement," he said, picking me up and carried me over to the table and laid me down. "Thanks, Baron," Michelle said as she grabbed my hand and wiped my finger and I turned my head. Baron kissed my forehead and petted me as Michelle pricked my finger. I sighed as she took some of my blood and the small puncture wound closed back up. "Well, good news is that she's not anemic." She took my blood pressure and temperature, writing down everything as Baron stayed by my side. "Well, she's healthy. Gaining plenty of weight. Now for what you've been waiting for." "Finally," Baron sighed, making us laugh as Michelle rolled up my shirt and squirted some gel on my stomach. She turned the monitor so Baron and I could see and placed the transducer on my stomach and started moving it around. "Let's see," she whispered. She moved the transducer around and gasped, smiling at us before pointing at the monitor. "Baby number one and baby number two. You're having twins." I looked over at Baron and saw a big smile on his face. "Twins...," He whispered, holding my hand. "We're having twins, baby. Isn't this exciting?" I smiled and nodded as Michelle cleaned off my stomach. "Which means you will have to be extra careful with everything that you do and everything you eat. Has she done the crying over ice cream yet?" Baron chuckled and helped me sit up. "Oh yeah. Jack and I make sure that we have plenty of ice cream around." "That actually sounds good right now. Or a sandwich. Help me down," I said, squeezing Baron's hand. He chuckled and picked me up, setting down as I made my way into the kitchen. "Twins. She's in great health and we're having twins," he smiled as Michelle packed up her stuff. "Yes. Now to keep her that way, make sure she takes her meds and try to get her moving around more, but not too much. Also start pumping her with vitamin C." Baron nodded as he walked Michelle to the door. "Thanks for everything." "Don't mention it. I can't wait to tell Mark. He's going to freak out. Call me if you two need me." She change to a bird and flew off as Baron shut the door and made the table and monitor disappear before joining me in the kitchen.

I whined as I stared at the jar of pickles as Baron walked in. "What's the matter, baby?" I held up the jar towards him. "I can't get the top off." He smirked and opened it with ease, petting my head. I blushed and walked back to the fridge and started grabbing different items and put them on the counter. "Baby, let me do it for you," he said as I grabbed some bread. "I can handle making a sandwich," I giggled as I prepared my sandwich. Baron carefully watched me, as if I would make a mistake or hurt myself. "I'm glad that you care, Baron, but I'm okay. I got this." "Then why did you take out the ketchup and not the mayo," he asked, raising an eyebrow. I looked down and sure enough, I had the ketchup and not mayo. I sighed and put it away, grabbing the mayo this time. "Sorry," I mumbled as I spread the mayo on my bread and put it away. "Pregnancy brain. Can't be helped," he smiled as I put my sandwich together and took a bite. I sat down at the table and conjured up a laptop and began surfing the internet. "Online shopping again," he teased, sitting in front of me and propped my legs up and massaged my feet. "Oh thank you," I sighed, "and yes. Or at least getting some ideas for the baby...well, twins room. I can't wait to know the gender. It's so exciting," I smiled, eating my sandwich. "Boy or girl or maybe both. Who knows? Time to wait and see. I wouldn't mind a little girl," he smiled. "For the sake of the entire world, I hope I'm having boys." He frowned, looking at me. "You really think I'm that bad?" I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. "You're overprotective with me! Having a daughter would have you hiring guards and keeping us under surveillance all day everyday," I laughed. "Whatever. I just want my family protected. Now that I know that my beautiful wife and our cubs are healthy, that lifts a weight off my shoulders and I can work on childproofing the house." "What more do you have to do? You had carpet put in every room and already installed little gates at the stairs." "Well, I could always have a door installed to join our rooms," he said as he set my legs down. "Babe, I think you're doing plenty. Let's just worry about our little ones getting here," I said as I finished my sandwich. "I know. I'm just nervous since this is new to us. I also need to find a midwife to sit with you when I have business around the village. I'll call Trish to come by. You'll love her. She has two of her own so she'll help you relax." I sighed and closed my laptop, making it disappear before standing up and stretched. "Do what you have to do," I said, rubbing my eye before kissing his cheek and walked to the living room, sitting on the couch and eventually fell asleep.

Hours later, I woke up and transported myself to the bathroom to relieve myself. I washed up and looked at my growing belly bump, lifting up my shirt and rubbed my stomach. "Hey, you two. I'm going to make sure that you two remain healthy no matter what," I whispered. "I'll be by your side to help." Baron appeared behind me, placing his hand over mine. I looked up and smiled as he rubbed my stomach and he pressed his lips against my temple. "My family," he mumbled as we walked out of the bathroom. I smiled as the aroma of food reached my nose and I licked my lips. Baron picked me up and carried me down the stairs until we reached the kitchen and he sat me down in a chair. "Dinner is ready. I made beef stroganoff and dumplings, nothing to make Lady Maria sick or anything since her taste buds have changed," Jack said as he fixed plates and placed them in front of us before making his own plate and joined us. I picked up my fork and began eating, savoring the flavors. "By how fast she's eating, I'd say that you did a great job as usual," Baron chuckled. I nodded in agreement with my cheeks stuffed with food. "Thank you, but please slow down, Lady Maria so you don't choke," Jack said, getting up and walked over to the fridge, "want some ginger ale?" "Yes, please," I said in between bites as Baron rubbed my cheek. "You're just glowing, baby. It's nice," he smiled. "Thanks, Baron." "Um why are the car keys next to the milk," Jack asked, holding up the keys. They both looked at me and I shrugged. "Were you cleaning up or something, baby, and you found the keys and moved them," Baron asked me as Jack poured me a glass of ginger ale. I scratched my head, trying to think. "I did clean up my mess that I made in here and I do remember picking up the keys." He chuckled and petted my head. "Don't worry about it, baby. At least you didn't put them somewhere else and we wouldn't be able to find them." I sighed as sipped my drink, my mind all jumbled, but at least Jack and Baron aren't teasing me over it. I finished eating and sipped my drink, becoming lost in my mind. "Lady Maria...Lady Maria." I blinked and looked over at Jack. "Sorry. I got lost in thought." "That's all right. I was asking if you want some cake that I made," he smiled. "You know I do! You always make the best cake!" He chuckled and went over to cut up the cake. "Master Baron, what about you?" "Just cut one big piece for us to share." Jack nodded and grabbed the knife to cut into the cake. "I was just thinking about how it won't be quiet for too much longer here. It will be filled with laughter and cries all day," I giggled. "Yeah. Two miniature version of you or me, running around here, bringing joy to our home. This is all I've ever wanted," Baron said as Jack sat the plate down between us before leaving. Baron picked up his fork and dug into the cake, holding it out to me. I smiled and ate it as he fed himself. "I wanted this too, despite me not saying it out loud, but deep down, I know that this is what I wanted and I'm glad that I get to share it with you, the love of my life," I said before he fed me. "I'm glad. We're fixing each other for the better and it will only get better from here." He kissed my cheek, smiling against my skin as we enjoyed our moment together.

After we finished eating, I got in the shower and got dressed for bed. I walked out of the bathroom and noticed a pile of pillows on the bed. I rolled my eyes, knowing why they were there and couldn't help but smile. I rearranged some of the pillows, leaving the ones that I don't need at the foot of the bed before climbing in, a sigh of relief escaped me when my aching body relaxed. The door opened and Baron walked in, smiling at me. "Gotcha some water, just in case you need it," he said, setting the bottle on the nightstand before grabbing the pillows and put them away. "Thanks." He nodded and went to the bathroom and got into the shower. I flipped through the tv channels as I waited for him, dropping the remote next to me when I couldn't find anything on. I placed my hands on my baby bump and rubbed it. "I can't wait to hold you, little ones. I'm so excited." "You and me both, Maria." Baron walked out and climbed into bed next to me, resting his head on my chest as he rubbed my stomach. "You're going to be a great mother." "You're going to be a great overprotective father," I teased. "At least you won't have to live in fear," he chuckled and kissed my neck, "besides, I just want my offspring to be tough and well guarded which is why I have guards who will escort you if you need to go out and drive by here when I'm not home. I'm sure Jack can protect you, but you can never be too careful, especially since these are my offspring. People would do anything to harm you or them and I won't let that happen." He kissed my baby bump and smiled. "I will always protect you and your mother," he whispered, placing another kiss on my stomach. I smiled and kissed him, feeling safe and protected knowing that he will do anything to keep us safe.


	22. Month Five

I sighed and rubbed my stomach when I felt movement. "What are you two doing in there," I mumbled, staring at my stomach as Baron walked in. "What's the matter, baby?" "I think there's a flipping contest in there," I sighed as Baron chuckled. "Well, tell them to calm down. Trish and Michelle are coming over. Today is the day that we finally know what we're having." "Twins. We're having twins, Baron." "Smartass," he chuckled as I laughed. "No swearing in front of the children," I said, rubbing my stomach. "Sorry," he mumbled, placing a hand on my stomach, "wow. I think there's a war in there. It's okay, little ones. Only four months to go and you will be in this world. Just be patient." The movements finally stopped, meaning that they've finally calmed down and I sighed. "Knock knock," Michelle said as she opened the door, "we're here for the one of the big days of your pregnancy. Maria, this is Trish Stratus. She will help you with the remainder of your pregnancy." A woman with brown hair walked in, smiling when she saw me. "Hello, Miss Maria. How are you feeling today," she asked as she hugged Baron then walked over to me. "Tired, hungry, and my breast are swollen," I giggled, "the twins just finally calmed down from their little fiasco in there." "Just wait until you're asleep. You haven't felt anything yet," she chuckled as she helped me up and Baron took over, placing me on the table. "Time to see what the genders are," Michelle said as she got set up. Trish measured my stomach and wrote it down as Michelle did the usual tests before doing the ultrasound. "Let's see what the babies are up to." She moved the transducer around to look at both babies and told us the genders.

"Congratulations, you two. So I'm guessing a big gender reveal party," Trish asked and we nodded. "We've already had it planned out. So tomorrow, everyone get together and we will make the announcement," I said and Baron nodded. "That's going to be fun. Maria, no overdoing yourself okay? These last few months are very important and we want you and the boys to be healthy," Trish instructed and I nodded. "Call me if you two need me for anything, even if it's just to sit around with her, Baron." "Trust me, I definitely will. We don't need anything to happen to Maria or the twins," he said, staring at my stomach. "That's right. Now, I have to go tell Mark about the party tomorrow night," Michelle smiled and hugged me before she and Trish left. Baron cupped my face and kissed me, smiling against my lips as we slowly pulled apart. "What was that for?" He smiled as he caressed my cheek with his thumbs. "I never thought I could be this happy before. I'm glad that you're in my life, Ayame. I love you." "I love you too, Baron." He smiled and kissed me, his hands rubbing my stomach as we finally parted. I placed my hands on top of his, smiling. "I love you three so much, baby. I will protect you and make sure that you stay healthy." I nodded as Jack returned with food. "Hope you don't mind, but I went out and bought lunch for you, Lady Maria." I smiled and nodded as I walked over to the couch and sat down, a small table forming in front of me. "As long as it's food, I don't care where you get it from," I chuckled as he placed a plate in front of me. "Well, I have some stuff to check out around the village and pick up some things for the house. Jack, you'll keep an eye on her, I'm sure," Baron said, kissing my forehead as I ate. "Of course, Master Baron. She's in safe hands with me," Jack reassured him. "Thank you. I'll see you both later," Baron said before walking out of the front door. "Now let's get you fed and I'll give you a massage so you can relax and I can relieve some of your stress," Jack said as he sat down next to me. "Thanks for everything, as always," I smiled and continued to eat my lunch.

After lunch, I laid on the couch as Jack gave me a foot massage. "That feels so so good. My feet have been killing me," I sighed as he smiled at me. "I could tell. You feel better now, don't you?" I nodded as the door opened and Baron walked in with bags on both arms. "Hey, you four," he greeted as he set the bags down. "Do you need some help bringing in the bags," Jack asked, looking over his shoulder. "No. I got it. Take care of my special girl." He walked back out to grab more bags as Jack continued to rub my feet. "You're the best," I said as Jack smiled. "Thank you, Lady Maria, but I'm just doing my job to make sure that you comfortable." I rubbed my stomach when I felt another movement as Baron walked in with more bags. "Did you buy the entire store or something," I teased, looking at all of the bags on the floor. "No no. Most of this will be for the party tomorrow. And I have a cake already so everything will be ready for the big announcement." "Wow. Can I be apart of anything?" "No," he and Jack said in unison. "Okay, just asking," I laughed, holding my hands up in surrender as Jack got up. "On that note, that's my time to take off for awhile," he said, grabbing some of the bags. I raised an eyebrow as Baron whispered something to him before Jack walked out of the door. "What was that all about?" "Can you relax and just trust us," he chuckled and helped me up. "Sorry. I just feel so excluded. I like to be apart of everything so not being able to help is just making me feel down." "I know, baby, but you need to focus on yourself. Besides, when these two arrive, you'll be very busy with them and me," he chuckled, rubbing my stomach. "Good point, because something tells me that I'll have to help you when you have to change a diaper or clean up spit up." "Hey. Vomit, I can handle. Diapers are not my thing. Can't we just have Jack change them?" I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. "Jack isn't the father of my boys. You are which means that you will help change them, feed them, wake up in the early morning, and anything else." He nodded and smiled. "I'll always be here to help. Oh and Kelly wanted me to give you something. I saw her and Corey while I was out." He walked over and picked up a bag, pulling out a box. I opened it and smiled, pulling out a shirt that says 'This Mommy is Awesome' on the front. "This is so cute. I'll thank her tomorrow," I said, holding up the shirt to my body. "It'll look great on you, baby. Now, let me get everything put up and I'll enjoy a nice evening with my beautiful wife." I smiled and kissed his cheek as he went to put the bags away. I used my powers to get to the bedroom and hung up my new shirt. I sat down on the bed, smiling as I looked down at my stomach. "I can't wait to have you in my arms, little ones." I smiled and laid down, lost in thought until I fell asleep.

I felt a heavy arm on me and slowly opened my eyes to only the moonlight as the only source of light in the room. I looked over and saw Baron sound asleep next to me and let out a sigh. I didn't mean to fall asleep and ruin our evening together, but I guess I was a little tired and it couldn't be helped. I carefully removed his arm from around me before disappearing and reappearing in the kitchen and turned on the lights. "One small snack should be okay," I whispered and opened the fridge and found some leftovers and warmed it up. I sat at the counter and began eating when I heard footsteps followed by someone clearing their throat and looked up to see Baron, leaning against the door frame. "Hi," I smiled with the fork hanging out of my mouth. He chuckled and walked over, sitting next to me. "Got hungry?" I nodded as he kissed my temple. "Sorry for falling asleep and ruining our evening together." "Don't be, baby. I think your internal clock is all over the place lately so it's fine. At least I got to hold you as you slept. You looked so beautiful and peaceful." I blushed as I continued eating. "Anyways, when are we having the party?" He shrugged, watching me as I put away my dishes. "Whenever you're ready. I'm thinking around lunch since there'll be plenty of food and gives everyone the chance to talk to you and me. Plus the girls will probably want to plan the baby shower with you so it's going to be a busy day for us." I nodded and took a sip of water. "Well, we should get back to bed. We'll need all of the rest that we can get." He nodded and carefully picked me up, turning off the lights before carrying me to the bedroom and laid me down, laying close to me as we shared a kiss before falling asleep.


	23. Gender Reveal

The next day felt like it flew by as we prepared for the party. I couldn't do much to help, but I spent most of my time ordering them around as they decorated the building with a mix of pink and blue to go with the theme. "Cupcakes are here," a man yelled out as two men walked in, carrying a tower of cupcake that had pink and blue frosting. "Set it on the front table on the stage, please," I told them and they nodded at me and walked over to the stage. "Baby, sit down already," Baron chuckled as he and Jack hung up a banner. "Some walking around is fine. I got tired of sitting anyways. Also, Jack, move your side up slightly." He moved it and I gave him a thumbs up as the decorating was completely. "I'll check the food and everyone should be arriving soon," Jack said, checking his watch before going to the kitchen as Baron walked over to me and grabbed my hand. "Nervous?" "Is it that obvious," I giggled as he kissed my hand. "Relax. It's going to be okay. I'm here with you. If you want, I can do most of the talking and you just stand there and look beautiful and do the reveal." I sighed and nodded as we set a board for people to make their guesses on the gender of the baby. "Thanks. Now, pep talk your boys because I just took a kick and elbow to my sides." He laughed and gave my stomach a loving rub. "There's my two favorite people!" Corey and Kelly walked in with gifts and headed our way. "Maria, you look amazing. How are you feeling," Kelly asked as she hugged me. "I'm okay. I'm just ready to give birth so I can hold my baby or babies in my arms," I replied before hugging Corey. "Any chance you can tell us now so we don't have to wait," Corey smiled. "Nice try, Corey. You will learn everything with everyone else. Feel free to use the board to make your guesses," I patted him on the shoulder as more and more people arrived, all of them greeting and hugging me as the party officially started. Baron led me to the stage where we were going to be as everyone was served food and drinks at their tables. I smiled as Jack placed mine and Baron's plates down and finally sat down. "This is great. You have a lot of gifts to open up, Lady Maria," he chuckled as we ate. "I wonder why they bought gifts when they don't even know what we're having," Baron said in between bites. "Nice gesture. They probably bought unisex toys and clothes in case I don't see them anytime soon. I know Chris said something about scarves." Baron chuckled, shaking his head. "He's obsessed with them so now he had to give them...okay," he laughed, shaking his head. I sipped my juice as Jack cleared his throat. "Master Baron, Lady Maria, are you ready for the announcement?" Baron looked at me and I nodded, standing up. Jack used a fork to tap his glass , getting everyone's attention. "We don't want to keep you all in suspense for much longer," Baron said as Jack retrieved the board, "First announcement." "We're having twins," I announced and everyone applaud, Corey making loud noises as usual. I giggled as Jack returned with the board and set it up before cupcakes were passed out to everyone. "Wow. More people voted or are praying for a boy," I giggled, seeing more blue marks than pink. "I wouldn't be that bad if I had a little girl!" Everyone laughed as we held up our cupcakes. "Inside the cupcakes, it will be either pink, blue, or half and half. Everyone, take a bite," I said before taking a bite of my cupcake, everyone doing the same and looked inside. "Twin boys! The village won't be in danger," Corey yelled out, making everyone laugh before they cheered and clapped. "My baby boys and my beautiful wife," Baron said, placing his hand on my stomach and kissed me, "my entire world. I love you." "I love you too, Baron. Always," I smiled as we shared another kiss. I sat back down and everyone went back to chatting as Baron went around and talked with people. "Babe!" I smiled as Carmella and Kelly walked up and joined me at the table. "So glad to see you two as always," I smiled as Carmella rubbed my stomach. "And always glad to see you three. Twin boys! I'm so happy for you guys," she said. "And relieved that you're not having a girl or twin girls so we don't have to worry about Hurricane Baron," Kelly added. "Me too. You don't have to live with him. He's been baby proofing the entire house since I became pregnant," I giggled. "How so?" "There's carpet in every room now and he tore out a wall to put a door from our bedroom to the twins room." "Wow," they both said and I nodded. "Well, good luck with all that. I want you to know that as their Godmother, I will make sure that they always look fabulous," Carmella winked. "So you just made yourself their Godmother," I giggled as she nodded. "Well, I call being their aunt," Kelly stated. "Now we just need to figure out how to be able to spend time with them without Baron losing his mind," Carmella said and Kelly nodded. "I'm sure that he won't mind, especially when he's over the whole spit up everywhere and buried in dirty diapers," I laughed. "Now we need to talk about your second party, baby shower!" I giggled as Carmella danced in her seat. "I'm thinking next month or when you're seven months pregnant." "Hm. Let's just wait until I'm eight months. With how much Baron has been buying lately, you and the others may no have to buy gifts," I giggled. "Well, we will still bring gifts and snacks and we can have a great time together. We can use your place, right," Kelly asked and I nodded. "Baron barely lets me leave the house so he was fine with us kicking him out for a few hours." "He'll hang out with Corey and they'll cause some trouble together." Baron walked up and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Mark wants to speak with you," he said, holding out his hands. I nodded and let him help me up before helping me down the stairs and I made my way to Mark and Michelle. "Two boys, huh," he smiled as he grabbed my hands, "can't wait to see them when they're born. Have you been taking it easy?" "Yes. Baron makes sure that I eat, sleep, drinking plenty of water, and walk outside from time to time," I giggled. "Good. It's very important that you always be aware of your surroundings whenever you go anywhere alone. We don't want anything to happen to you or the twins," he said firmly. "Don't worry. Baron and Jack are always with me or I just send them to the store. There's also guards who watch over me whenever they're both gone." "Good, but you need to use your powers to scan the area and if anything is wrong or feels off, reach out to any male in the village and they will be by your side in an instant, understood?" I could tell that he was serious and gave him a firm nod before looking at Baron. "Can we go home? I'm tired." He nodded and kissed my hand. "Let me tell Jack and I'll take you home," he said before walking away. " "Tired," Michelle smiled as I nodded. "Get plenty of rest and call me whenever you need me." "I will. Thank you," I said and hugged her as Baron returned with a few bags. "Let's go," he said, grabbing my hand and waved as we walked outside. I rubbed my eyes as he helped me into the car and we returned home. "Had fun tonight," he asked as he drove. "Yeah. This was fun and I was glad to see everyone. Carmella has already named herself the twins' Godmother and Kelly is their aunt," I giggled. "Of course they did. I'm glad that you had fun, baby. Let's get you home so you can rest." I nodded and placed my hand on his arm as we returned home.

I stretched as we walked inside, drowsiness taking over. Baron carried in a few bags and set some on the couch. "You can open those later. I brought some cupcakes home too. Want one?" I nodded as he pulled out a cupcake and handed it to me. "I'm glad that I thought of this awesome way to do the gender reveal. Thank you for letting me do that," I said before biting into the sweet treat. "That was very unique. I thought that we would do the usual cut a cake or do a little cannon," he stated as I finished the cupcake and sipped my water. "No. Wanted to do something different than traditional," I yawned again and he picked me up, carrying me upstairs to our bedroom. "We're going to have to move you downstairs soon so everything will be easier for you," he stated as he set me down. "I could just use my powers to get up and down the stairs." "No. Your powers will drain for the next few months. Your powers will be used to help the twins grow and since you're having twins, they drain twice as much of your powers and strength than if you had one baby inside of you. That's another reason why you're always so tired." I nodded and walked into the bathroom and decided to take a shower. I hummed to myself as I washed my body clean, smiling as I looked down at my baby bump. "My baby boys," I smiled as I finished my shower and got out, Baron wrapping me in a warm, soft towel and helped me dry off. "You're spoiling me," I giggled, looking up at him. "Of course I am. You look like you're ready to pass out any minute now. You have bags under your eyes." I blushed and looked at myself in the mirror. "Wow. I guess I was more tired than I realized." "Arms up." I held up my arms and he slipped a shirt on me. "Thanks." He smiled and kissed my forehead as he helped me finish getting dressed before helping me into bed. "Go ahead and go to sleep. I'm going to shower then I'll join you," he said, kissing me. "Okay," I yawned and closed my eyes as he went into the bathroom and took his shower. I readjusted myself and quickly fell asleep, tiredness washing over me. I heard heavy footsteps before the bed dipped and a strong arm draped over me and his scent filled my nose, a smile forming on my face as we slept.


	24. Month Six

"Baron, what are you doing in here," I asked as I walked into what will be the nursery after hearing loud banging inside. "Just hanging up the nursery sign and a picture of us," he mumbled, nails sticking out of his mouth. "Why are you doing that now? You have plenty of time to do that." He hammered in the nails he had and hung up our wedding picture before walking over to me and kissed me. "I know, but the sooner I get this room finished the sooner I can move on to something else." I sighed, shaking my head. "Whatever. Can we go out for a walk? I know that you don't want me waddling around outside alone and Jack has something to do so I'm left with you." He smiled and tossed the hammer down before grabbing my hand. "I'd love to go out with you and enjoy this beautiful day." He kissed my cheek before we walked downstairs and headed to the front door. "Wait..." I stopped as he walked into the kitchen and returned with a small basket. "Let's enjoy a nice picnic outside. I want to take you to a nearby park." I smiled and called for Randi who ran up, wagging his tail. "Wanna go for a walk?" He ran around and barked as Baron chuckled. "Fine. Let's go then." He opened the door for me and locked it behind us as we left our home, Randi walking right next to us.

We reached the park and found a picnic table under a beautiful tree and sat down. There was a beautiful lake in the middle with a large fountain in the center of it. Baron laid out a cloth on top of the table before placing the basket on it. Randi ran around, rolling in the grass and running with stray wolves. Baron opened it and pulled out a salad, assortment of fruit, two sandwiches, cookies, and two bottles of water. "Wow. This is so amazing, Baron. Thank you," I said as he unwrapped one of the sandwiches and passed it to me. "Anything for my beautiful wife," he smiled, taking a bite of his sandwich. I smiled and took a bite of my sandwich and sighed happily. "So good. A beautiful day with a wonderful lunch and my very wonderful husband." I looked up at him and saw him blushing and he quickly turned his head. "Are you blushing?" "N-no. It's hot. That's all," he stuttered out, not looking at me. "You are blushing! Oh my God. The mighty Baron Corbin is blushing," I teased, reaching over and rubbed his arm. "You will tell no one about this," he stated, looking at me and I nodded. "I'll blackmail you with it whenever I want something." "Baby, you do realize that I'll just buy you anything that you want, right?" I shrugged and took another bite of my sandwich. "Yeah, but it'll still be fun to remind you of this." He rolled his eyes and leaned over and kissed my cheek as we finished our sandwiches.

I leaned against Baron, munching on an apple slice as we enjoyed the wonderful weather and our time together. His hand was resting on my stomach and he occasionally kissed the top of my head. "This was great. I needed a day out like this. With you," he mumbled, rubbing my stomach. "I'm glad that I could get you out of the house and join me on a day out then," I smiled, placing a kiss on his arm. "Maybe you should do that more often." I nodded and looked down at his hand on my stomach. "We will. The twins will definitely have you outside more." He chuckled as he stared at me. "Well, I'll be happy to do anything for my family. I love you, Ayame." "I love you too, Alpha. Forever and always." He leaned down and kissed my lips, whispering "I love you" against my lips. I smiled as he whistled for Randi to return to us as he packed up the basket. Randi ran up and licked my stomach before Baron stood up and pulled me up to my feet. "Best way to spend our time together," I said as we began the walk home. "Yeah. Next time, we'll have the twins with us and we can enjoy this park as a family," he agreed, holding my hand as Randi walked in front of us.

We returned home and Baron returned to working on the twins nursery as I laid on the couch, dozing off from watching television. Dreams of having the twins in my arms and Baron holding them filled my head as I felt a few kicks. I rubbed my eyes and opened them when I felt a hand on my head. "Sorry, Lady Maria. Didn't mean to wake you. How are you feeling," Jack asked, helping me sit up. "It's fine. I probably should be sleeping in a bed and not the couch anyways. I'm okay. I was dreaming." "Of the twins again?" I giggled and nodded. "Yeah. Our little family together. It was nice. Can't wait for it to become a reality." Jack petted my head and smiled. "Don't worry. They'll be here soon. Now, ready for dinner? Beef tips and rice?" "You had me at dinner," I laughed as I got up and we walked into the kitchen. A few minutes later, Baron walked in and plopped down in the chair next to me as Jack sat our plates in front of us. "How's the nursery coming along," I asked in between bites. "It's almost done. Fresh paint, new carpet, both cribs finished. I even managed to get the changing station finished. Just need to get the closet filled and get a few more shelves up and everything will be finished," he replied, smiling proudly. "You know that you could ask me for help, right, Master Baron," Jack offered and Baron nodded. "Yeah, but I'm enjoying the time to build stuff for my kids. I appreciate the offer, but I'll be okay on my own." Jack nodded as we enjoyed our dinner.

Baron helped me upstairs and guided me to the nursery as I kept. My eyes closed. "Again, it's not finished, but it still looks good to me," he said as he opened the door and pulled me along then stopped. "Okay. Open them." I opened my eyes and looked around in awe. "Wow," I whispered as I looked around. The walls had trees and animals painted on both sides with a few clouds in random spots. The changing station was in front of the window next to a small dresser. "This is amazing, Baron. You did all of this?" "Well, Jack did the painting for me, but yeah, I did everything else." I walked over to one of the cribs and smiled at the thought of having an infant inside of it. Baron walked up behind me and placed his hands on my stomach. "Thinking about having our son laying in this?" I nodded and looked up. "I can't wait for them to be here. As the due date gets closer, the more I get excited," I explained and turned around, putting my arms somewhat around him. "Me too, baby. Me too. I'm ready for my boys to get here." I smiled at him before we shared a passionate kiss as our love filled one another. We held hands as we walked to our room and got ready for bed. I adjusted my pillows before laying down as Baron laid next to me. He placed a kiss on my stomach before moving closer to me, allowing me to rest against him as we drifted off to sleep, his hand resting on my stomach.


	25. The Night He Returned

I sighed as I sat around the house, feeling somewhat sick and tired at the same time. The months seemed to have flown by and now we're waiting for the day our boys finally arrive. As the days got closer and closer, Baron grew more and more frantic. Every move I made, he always checked on me. He was close by whenever I laid down to take a nap. I loved that he just wanted to make sure that he would be there the moment my water breaks, but I was worried that he would tire himself out running back and forth just to check on me. I sighed and rubbed my stomach as I sat on the couch. "Can you two hurry up in there? Your dad is very eager to see you guys. It's driving him a little crazy waiting for you," I giggled as Baron walked in the room. "Hey, beautiful. Are you okay? You're not in any pain are you?" He asked these questions every few hours before going back to whatever he was doing. "Baron, I'm fine. Relax. I'll scream when I need you." He walked over and sat down next to me, placing his hand on my stomach, rubbing slowly. "I'm driving you insane yet? I'm sorry. I just really want to hold my boys in my arms." I giggled and placed my hand on top of his. "Trust me. I'm ready to hold them too. Maybe they'll be here soon and you can finally stop worrying about me so much."

He smiled and pulled me into his lap, wrapping his arms around me, his hands firmly on my stomach. "I'll try. I'm just full of excitement. Which reminds me, don't tell Corey about my behavior. He'll never let me live it down." "I'll think about it," I giggled and kissed his cheek. I felt a few kicks and looked at my stomach as Baron chuckled. "They're ready to get out and meet us too." I smiled as the doorbell rung. I slid out of Baron's lap as he stood up and walked over to the door to answer it. Trish and Michelle walked in, smiling at me. "How's our mother to be doing," Michelle asked as Trish sat next to me and placed her hands on my stomach. "Just ready for these two to come out." "Hm. You're due any day now. You're definitely ready to deliver," Trish stated, placing her hands on different parts of my stomach. "So any day now and my boys will be here," Baron sighed as Michelle checked me out. "Yes and she's healthy so this will be a healthy birth. Now, Maria, I do need you to take some medicine so your body and blood will be nice and clean because when you give birth and we confirm that the boys are okay, we do need to inject a mix of your blood and Baron into them. It's to help create a barrier for them and you two will be able to sense them. Baron, I have some medicine for you as well." We both nodded as Michelle poured some clear liquid into small cups and handed them to us. "Are you nervous," Trish asked as I downed the liquid and shrugged. "I am a little, but I'm more excited than anything."

"Good. Focus on the excitement of it. Michelle and I will be there with you. We'll make sure that Baron doesn't pass out," Trish teased, causing Baron to frown as he took his medicine. "I'm not going to pass out. If I can handle sticking my hand through my enemies, I can handle childbirth." "Anyways, did you manage to get everything set up for the birth," Michelle asked and Baron nodded. "Yeah. Everything will be fine. I've been checking on her a few times and have extra security around, just in case." "Why would you need security," I asked as they turned to me. "Well, since you're the new queen of this village and expecting to give birth to heirs of the thrown, enemies will do any and everything in their power to make you lose the baby or even kidnap the child. It's important that since you're at your weakest, you remain inside and close to Baron. Even after you have given birth, you will need to remain here until your strength returns," Trish explained," But don't worry. Based on what you're saying, Baron is watching you like a hawk." "Yes. Yes he is," I smirked as Baron blushed. "Shut up." Trish and Michelle laughed as Baron cleared his throat. "We'll be sure to call you if we need you." "That's our cue, Michelle," Trish giggled and hugged me before getting up and headed to the door. "We'll hopefully see you real soon," Michelle said, hugging me then met Trish at the door as Baron waved them off then shut the door. "Those two and you are pains in the necks. I just want you to know that," he mumbled, sitting next to me. "Sorry, baby. I couldn't help it." He kissed the side of my head and sighed. "It's fine. I guess I'll let you slide with that. Now let's get you fed and ready for bed. You need all of the rest you can get just in case." He stood up then pulled me to my feet. "Yeah. I'm glad Jack was thoughtful enough to make plenty of food before leaving to do some research. I just hope he doesn't stay gone too long. I miss him," I sighed, resting my head on his arm. "Don't worry, baby. He'll be back to teach you more about the history of the village in no time." Baron chuckled when I let out a groan of annoyance.

That night, Baron helped me into bed and kissed me before leaving the room to continue his long battle of baby proofing the entire mansion. Randi and another wolf were sleeping in the hallway as if they were on guard duty. I rolled over and sighed as the gentle kicks that once bothered me while I was sleeping soon became soothing and I felt at peace as I slept. My body grew warm and I thought it was from Baron sending his love through me. It wasn't. The warmth felt strange and unfamiliar as my body felt like it was made of lead as my throat when dry. I slowly opened my eyes and attempted to move, but failed. I tried to open my mouth and call for Baron, but nothing came out. I heard a low chuckle as the bed dipped and a hand was on my face. "We meet again, darling..." and the sound of muffled growling and barking was the last thing I heard as Bray Wyatt smiled at me before darkness engulfed me.


	26. Close Call

"Please let me go," I whimpered as I felt myself being carried. "No can do, darling. I need you here with me," Bray chuckled as a door creaked open and I was finally able to see. We were back in the same room that he brought me last time, except this time it was filled with strange bones and skulls that littered the floor. There was a loud rumble as he carried me further into the room. I was overcome with fear for the lives of my unborn children. Bray put me down on a bed and smirked as chains appeared on the headboard of the bed and wrapped around my wrists, keeping me trapped. "Please..." I cried, looking at him with tears spilling out of my eyes. He chuckled and wiped away my tears with his thumb. "Don't worry. I would never harm a defenseless woman who's carrying children inside her. I will, however, keep her trapped and terrorize her until she goes into labor and cause for her to lose her precious babies." My eyes grew wide and I turned my head away so I didn't have to look at his sadistic smile. "And given your current state, you can't reach out to Baron or anyone else for that matter so you should go ahead and get comfortable while you can because it won't be long now." I couldn't stop the tears streaming down my face as he laughed.

XXX

Baron hammered another nail into the wall as he hung up a picture of a wolf on the wall. "I hope this won't scare them," he mumbled as he stepped back and looked around. He had finally finished the nursery and he couldn't be anymore proud. He put his tools away when he heard his wolves growling and quickly made his way down the hall. "What's wrong with you two? Maria is in there sleeping. Keep it down," he attempted to hush the wolves, but nothing worked. "No. You two can't go in there. Move!" Randi whimpered and scratched at the door, howling. "What's wrong?" Baron walked up to the bedroom door and opened it, his heart sinking. He flipped on the lights and saw the bed was empty. "Maria?" He walked over to the bathroom and turned on the lights. "Maria?!" He stormed out of the bedroom and searched the other rooms. "Maria, where are you?!" Baron growled as he became more frantic and his primal instincts started to kick in. Baron sent out a signal as he walked back and forth from room to room, hoping his soulmate would turn up. The front door creaked open and Baron raised down stairs, stopping when he saw Corey, Kelly, Mark, Michelle, Trish, and Steve walked in. "Did you find her," Mark asked. "No. I don't know where she is or what happened, but I can't sense her anywhere," Baron growled, balling up his fists. "Calm down. You need to focus. You might have missed something because you're so worked up over this," Steve said as the door opened and Baron immediately turned his head, but snarled when it wasn't Maria. "I'm back... What's going on? Why's everyone here," Jack asked as he walked in, looking around. "Maria is gone and Baron is losing it. Can you by any chance sense her anywhere," Trish asked him. "Maybe. Where was the last place you saw her?" "Bedroom. She was sleeping the last time I looked at her. I have to find her now. She's the mother of my children. She's due any day now." "Baron, calm down..." Baron growled and punched a hole onto the wall. "Don't tell me what to do! You're wasting my time," he spat out before storming outside and searched around the home. "Wow. We need to do something fast," Corey said, staring at the direction his friend went. Jack nodded and disappeared upstairs. He made it to the bedroom and scanned the area with his powers. "Oh no..."

XXX

"Please let me go," I begged, struggling against the chains, but stopped as I felt my energy drain. Bray chuckled, shaking his hand as he rubbed my stomach. "They must sense your distress because they're moving around in there. Too bad it won't be long now. The more you panic, the more stress you become and soon, you'll go into labor and you lose your babies. Then I'll heal you and you can bare my children over time and be my wife." I couldn't stop crying as I looked over at him. "Please... Please don't do this. They're innocent in all of this. Just please. Get me out of here so I can give birth to them and I'll come back and be your wife. Please. Just let them live." He stared into my eyes, his own darkening as he growled. "You think I'm a fool?! I know exactly what you're trying to do. Escape to Baron and he tracks me down. Sorry, sweetheart, but that's not happening. I will however send him the bodies of his dead children." I shut my eyes and turned my head as he laughed, walking away from the bed as the door open and shut. "Baron, please...," I cried, feeling kicks left and right.

XXX

Jack returned downstairs and looked around. "Where's Master Baron?" Corey walked outside and managed to talk Baron back inside. "Did you come up with anything," Baron demanded, focusing on Jack. "You're not going to like this..." "Just tell us. Now." "Bray took her," Jack said, everyone's eyes widening, "and we need to get to her fast. By the presence of Maria, she's going to give birth any minute." "Okay. Michelle, Trish. You two stay here and get everything prepped up for delivery. Kelly, help them. Jack, Baron, Corey, Steve and I will go get her. This can be dangerous. Remember, the prime objective is to bring back the queen of this village and make sure that everything is okay with the delivery," Mark instructed. "We will get her back," Steve confirmed. "Let's go," Baron said as they walked out of the house.

XXX

"Someone please...," I whined, squirming as pain shot through me. I managed to sit up just enough and noticed the blood. "Please, no. Please, someone help me," I cried. My water broke and I knew that I would be giving birth any minute. The door creaked and Bray walked in, chuckling. "Going into labor, I see. Its just a matter of time. You can't keep holding back." "Baron, please," I choked out as another contraction hit. "He can't hear you. No one can hear you," Bray chuckled. There was a loud bang and the door went flying across the room followed by a skull. Bray growled as he looked towards the entrance. My vision was blurry as numerous footsteps filed in and a familiar growl echoed in the chamber. "Baron...," I whispered weakly as familiar faces appeared. "Maria!" Baron charged at Bray, sending them flying towards the wall as Jack, Mark, and Steve made their way over towards me. "Lady Maria! We're here to get you," Jack said, petting my head. "She's losing blood. Maria, are you in pain," Steve asked as Mark looked at the chains that kept me in place. "You guys...you made it. You...found us," I mumbled, my eyes feeling heavy, my energy drained. "She's out of it. We need to hurry and get her out," Mark instructed as he pulled on the chains. Baron and Bray were fighting to the side, crashing into walls and swearing at each other. "He must've used his powers. These won't break," Mark growled. "Allow me to try, sir," Jack said before mumbling something under his breath, waving his hands until the chains disappeared. "You came to save us...you really showed up," I mumbled, my arms feeling more relaxed now that they're free. "Lady Maria... are you in pain? How much pain are you in," Jack asked, rubbing my arms. "Jack...It hurts so much...make it go away. Baron's busy." Jack pet my head and looked over at Baron who was punching Bray into the ground. "We need to get her out of here and fast before we lose all three of them," Steve stated. "What about Master Baron?" "Leave him alone...Don't disturb his work," I mumbled, crying out when a wave of pain washed over me. "Jack, can you put her under until we can move her," Mark asked and Jack nodded, "do it." "Lady Maria...I'm going to get rid of your pain for now and help you relax, okay? Just focus on me," Jack said, holding up his hand above my head. "Thank you. You're so good to me..." My vision faded and everything grew quiet before I drifted off to sleep.

"She's out. Baron! We have to go. Now!" Baron continued to punch Bray, his rage taking over until Mark yanked him off of him and dragged him over to the bed. "Focus! Your wife and children are in danger. We have to go. Right now," Mark growled. Baron took deep breathes before looking over at me. His rage fades as he placed his bloodied hand on my cheek. "Maria..." Jack and Steve created a barrier surrounding us like a shield. "Mark, let's go," Steve called out. Mark slowly made his way over to us and looked at Jack. "Think you can handle transporting all of us?" "This will be easy," Jack smirked and focused his energy and powers before darkness engulfed us and we disappeared from the World of the Damned. Baron keep a hold on my hand as we traveled back to our home, our world.


	27. Miracle Birth

Everything was a blur. I didn't know when I was arrived home or how I got there, slipping in and out of consciousness until my eyes snapped open as pain flooded me. "Maria, just breathe," Michelle instructed from between my legs as I cried out in pain. "I'm here, baby. Im here, Ayame," Baron reassured me, holding my hand. "Baron...," I whispered before another contraction caused me to cry out. "Push, Maria. Take a deep breath and push." I squeezed Baron's hand and screamed as I pushed with everything I had. Crying filled the room as Michelle pulled the first baby out, cutting the cord and quickly passed him to Trish before returning to her original position. "You're doing great, Maria. Deep breath and push, just like before." I nodded and took a few deep breaths before pushing again. Baron kept looking at me then looking over at Michelle as she delivered the other baby and my consciousness faded again. "Maria? Maria, open your eyes for me," Baron whispered, concern in his voice. "Pump her full of fluid. Baron, go check on your sons," Michelle said. Baron nodded and kissed my hand before leaving my side. My mind was fuzzy and my energy felt zapped as I continued to slip in and out of consciousness. I could hear voices around me and the cries of my boys, but I couldn't see them. Darkness surrounded me and I was completely trapped in a dark and cold world. I shivered as I desperately called out to Baron, needing his warmth, but I couldn't see him. I sat down on the ground, resting my head on my knees as I began to accept my fate, feeling that I have lost my family. "Ayame...Come back to us. Your boys need you. I need you...Open your eyes for me..." I could hear Baron calling for me, his presence near me. I stood up and chased after his voice, running towards him in the darkness. I saw a bright light and ran towards it, the glow slowly warming my body as I got closer and closer to me.

I gasped as my eyes snapped open and I sat up, trying to catch my breath. "Easy, Maria. Lay down," Michelle whispered, rubbing my arm and helped me lay back down. "My babies..." She smiled sweetly at me and wiped my forehead with a cool towel. "They're fine. Two perfectly healthy boys. I'll get Baron and bring them in." I nodded and watched her leave before taking a few deep breaths to calm down. "I'm back... I'm still here," I whispered to myself, looking around the room, "he didn't win. I'm still here." "Yes, you are. And so are our boys." I looked over and immediately smiled as Baron walked in, holding a blanket that I knew was wrapped around one of our sons as he made his way over to me as Michelle walked in behind him, holding another matching blanket with our other son. I kept my eyes on Baron until he reached me and immediately held out my arms. "Here's your strong mom right here," Baron whispered before carefully handing over our son. I smiled as the baby fussed and cooed in my arms, squirming until he was comfortable and slept peacefully. "Here's your other son," Michelle whispered, handing Baron our other son before leaving the room to give us privacy. "Did you name them? I missed it..." Baron shook his head as he gently rocked our son. "I wanted to wait for you to wake up so we can do it together. Although, I do have a name in mind." I raised an eyebrow as I looked up at him. "Aiden," he smiled, "and I don't want to do the cliche twin names that start with the same letter. I want them to be different so they can form their own individual lives and personality." I nodded slowly and smiled. "I like the name, Aiden." I looked down at the sleeping baby in my arms, caressing his little cheek with my finger, smiling when he nuzzles into my touch. "Luca." "Hm? Luca? That's the name you thought of," Baron asked and I nodded, "Luca and Aiden Corbin. I like it. It's different. I would've loved to name one of them after me, but I think this village has had enough of one Baron," he chuckled. "Yeah," I giggled, "There's no need to have another Baron destroying the village just yet." I kissed Luca on the cheek as I looked over at Baron as he placed Aiden on his crib next to the bed. "You should get some sleep," he whispered, taking Luca from me and placed him in his crib before using his powers to make my bed bigger so he could lay down beside me. "I'm so glad that the boys are okay," I whispered as I grabbed his hand and squeezed it as he kissed my forehead. "I'm glad that all of you are okay. I was worried that I would lose my family. I don't have anything to worry about now." "Except for Corey spoiling our boys." Baron frowned and I giggled, snuggling up to him as he laid a reassuring arm on my waist. "I love you, Maria." "I love you too." I flashed a smile before closing my eyes, the drowsiness from everything catching up to me and I quickly found sleep.

The next day, I was greeted with the sound of crying and Baron whispering to our new bundles of joys. I stretched and sat up, smiling as I looked to the side at Baron. "Need a hand?" He sighed with relief and handed over Aiden as he turned his attention to Luca while I began to breastfeed Aiden. "How are you feeling?" "Like I could take on the world and eat like a cow. I'm starving." The door opened and Jack walked in pushing a cart. "Guess I'm here just in time then. How are you, Lady Maria? Hungry like the little ones?" I nodded eagerly as I looked down at Aiden who was done eating and was looking up at me. Jack came closer and placed a tray in my lap and removed the cover to uncover a bowl filled with scrambled eggs, bits of bacon, potatoes, and cheese. On the side was a small bowl of fruit and a bottle of water. "Everything looks delicious. Thank you, Jack." "My pleasure. May I?" I nodded and passed off Aiden to Jack before picking up my fork and dug into my breakfast. I sighed happily between bites as Baron chuckled. "You have my appetite now." I rolled my eyes as I continued to eat until everything was finished, including the water. "I feel so much better now. Thank you, Jack." "You're always welcome, Lady Maria. Baron, now it's your turn to eat." Baron nodded and passed Luca to me so I could feed him and Baron could take a break.

After breakfast and a much needed shower, Michelle returned to check on me and the twins. "Seems like everyone is doing fine," she smiled as she wrote on her charts, "for now anyways. Baron will be rampaging soon enough once sleep deprivation sets in." "I'm not going to be that bad." Michelle raised an eyebrow before turning to me. "Make sure Jack helps out so both of you can relax and not go crazy, mainly him." I giggled and nodded as I sat down on the couch, Luca cooing softly in my arms. "Thank you for everything you've done," I smiled at her as Baron walked her to the door. "My pleasure. If you have anymore kids, I'll happily help. At least you'll be more prepared this time." I blushed at the thought as she waved then left. Baron sighed and returned to the sofa, sitting next to me. "This is it. This is all I ever wanted," he whispered, looking at our boys before looking at me, "my own family. I finally have a family to come home to who loves and cherishes me and I feel the same way. I'm so glad that I got to meet you. So glad that I fought for you. For us. I never thought that I could ever love someone as much as I love you and our beautiful boys. I love you so much, Maria, the light in my life. My beautiful Ayame." I blinked back tears as I smiled at him. "This is all I wanted as well. Fate brought us together. Trials were thrown our way, but we passed every single one and now we're here. Together and healthy with our children. I will always be by your side from this day forward. You are my king and I am your loving queen. Together with our princes, we will conquer any and everything that threatens our love. For our love is eternal. I love you, Baron, my powerful Alpha." We gazed into each other's eyes before leaning forward and sealing our promise of love and devotion into one powerful kiss.


End file.
